


Skyrim The Anime

by AugustMills823



Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Mental Anguish, Mental Instability, Non-Graphic Smut, Physically enhanced character, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Reluctant Dovahkiin | Dragonborn, The dovahkiin is a thief
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:21:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 46,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27764401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AugustMills823/pseuds/AugustMills823
Summary: Fynrir blood-arrow is really getting tired of this dragonborn shit(Currently on hiatus, I recently moved and have no internet, and I've made more then a few mistakes so far that need to be fixed lol, I've been working on this story every night for almost 3 months and I feel like no matter what I do I cant get it right haha, but then again they say your your own worst critic.... as soon as I have internet access and I feel my story is more complete I will be uploading the edited version on here! Stay tuned
Relationships: Male Dovahkiin | Dragonborn & Karliah, Male Dovahkiin | Dragonborn & Thieves Guild, Male Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Serana
Kudos: 5





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> If skyrim was set an anime like world, this is how I would personally right it, I've taken elements from a lot of my favorite anime and placed them all in a skyrim like universe, this is the first story I'm posting here and I truly hope people like it even though it's pretty weird, expect a lot of classic skyrim scenes mixed with cheesy cliche anime scenes 
> 
> The first chapter of this story is basically all exposition that will be explained in more depth as the story progresses

Fynrir looked down under the perch where he remained crouched, unmoving and completely silent, his eyes were narrowed and all he could seem to think about was how badly he didnt want to be here, not because it was a dark, wet cave that smelled of death and was filled with vampires, death hounds and skeletons that all wanted to kill him, he was more or less used to that at this point in his life (but instead of vampires it was usually dragur or bandits so it was at least a very small change of scenario)

He didnt want to be here because he was supposed to be done with this... done with fighting, he was supposed to be in the deep beautiful mountain range of the rift, completely alone and away from the world he was sworn to protect based on misplaced genetics and nothing more 

But that same world would never let him go it seemed, it would call him whenever it needed him and despite himself he would always listen and come running back to its defense 

He hadn't even been on his self enforced exile for more then a month before being dragged back into a responsiblity that he was not suited for and did not want (not that it mattered to fate... clearly)

He had walked to riften to collect his monthly sum from the guild when he was forced to fight off three hungry vampires that called for his blood in particular, based on what he gathered by their taunts, it wasn't even because they knew he was dragonborn, they only wanted him because his blood apparently smelled really good 

After "handling" the blood suckers he was approached by an orc that extended an offer for him join a small order known as the "Dawngaurd" an order of vampire hunters that was in desperate need of someone like him (probably because he manhandled three vampires the way an adult would manhandle three children)

Fynrir didn't want to, so much of his being wanted to tell the orc that he wasnt intrested and then walk away back to his campsite with his heavy bag of gold, once there, in the old ruin where he killed a dragon in order to claim it as his new home, he would relax around the fire and read a book or try to meditate the way paarthanax taught him (though he always failed in these attempts)

But two small parts of his brain forced him to accept and go to the fort near stendarrs beckon, first it was the undesired responsibility that always struck him when someone else was in danger, and from what the orc had told him there was plenty of danger coming from these vampires, dozens of disappearances and casualties ranging from soilders to farmers, case after case of sanguinare vampiris and the icing on the cake, burning down the hall of the vigilants 

The other part of his brain was the part that drove him Into woods in the first place, the part his mind that had spent the last two months tormenting him, The memory was still so fresh in his mind, the memory of his first encounter with the beast that lingered in his subconscious...

-

Not even a few hours had gone by since he defeated Alduin when it happened, when he returned from the after life he was so exhausted and beaten up that Paarthanax himself gave Fynrir a ride back to whiterun, where he immediately fell into bed (well, actually he fell into lydia, who had been there to greet him and the nord woman carried him back to breezehome) and not a second after hitting the sheets he fell asleep 

And like most nights he dreamed, but this wasnt like any other dream he could think of, as soon as his eyes closed they opened once again 

He found himself in a dark foggy area, there was no roof above his head and no walls insight, the floor was the only thing he could actually see and it seemed to go on forever, the only form of light seemed to be on him, a dull almost grey light shined above his head as he walked forward, his trained feet made no noise on the hard stone floor that featured no markings but was cut in squares to give it some form of aesthetic 

The area was silent but not a peaceful silence, it was an eerie, dread filled silence that made him stop and look over his shoulder more then once in paranoia 

Time was odd in dreams and it seemed even more so in this one, the breton couldn't tell if he walked around for an hour, or a minute 

"Hello...." a gritty rough voice called to him from behind... it was almost his voice but deeper and ominous, he'd always had a more gravelly tone since he became a man, many people told him that he sounded like the kind of fellow that enjoyed smoking the occasional mountain flower (it was always a little silly to him but that had actually been a problem in high rock when he was younger) even though he'd never smoked anything in his life, it was just his voice and it got a little worse when he started using his thu'um 

Fynrir turned his head expecting to see some twisted form of himself, instead he turned to face a dragon, which was odd, because not only did the dragon share his voice but he also didnt address him the way other dovah did, they always talked to him in dragon tongue first before speaking in his language, but not this one "where are we?" He was curious about this dragon... something about it seemed familiar 

The dragon tilted his head to the side and almost seemed to smile "we are in our mind"

The dragonborn narrowed his eyes a bit, now he was less curious and more concerned about what kind of predicament he'd found himself in "our?"

The dovah still had the smile on his face when nodded his head, he kept his eyes on the breton as if he was expecting something "you do not see it? Look closely at me Fynrir" the beast leaned its head closer to him in order to provide him a better look 

Fynrir let his eyes wonder the dragon in front of him, it was a regular dragon for the more part maybe a little smaller but regular all the same, its top half was red... a very familiar red, and its belly was a pale white, the coloration was unlike any dragon he'd seen before but that wasnt all too concerning 

Then Fynrir saw the cut on the dragons face that was already healing, up through his right eye... just like his own cut he'd gotten in his battle with Alduin, the cut that almost cost him his eye

The dragons smile grew as he slowly shifted so Fynrir could see the side of his skinny and scared body, down towards his leg there was a... painful looking injury on the beasts hip, or at least what he imagined was its hip 

Subconsciously, the dragonborn put his hand on his own hip, another injury he got from his battle with Alduin, at the time the injury didnt reall worry him, one of the perks of being dovahkiin was recovery... he healed fast but while the pain quickly faded into nothing, the limp remained in his step (even now two monthes later the limp was still there) it was a small limp that didnt really hurt his mobility but it was still there, nothing more then a reminder that flared up every so often 

He recognized the red scales because they were like his own red hair, dark but still easy to tell the color, the pale white scales were like his own pale skin that seemed impossible to tan, the voice was the same, the scars and Mark's were all the same, they... were the same 

"You understand now... I am you, the true you" the dragon turned to him and spoke "I am your inner most being, I am your soul Fynrir" when the words left its mouth it leaned back away some 

Fynrir gulped down the lump that had formed in his throat when the dragon made the realization clear, he shook his head "then why haven't I seen you before?" 

"Because you were not ready to see me, until Alduin was defeated you wouldn't have been able to understand yourself, who you truly are... who you can truly be" it's tone was changing as the beast spoke, it slowly filled with arrogance and almost malice 

"Who I can truly be?"

The dragon turned its head, the smile was still present on its face, Fynrir followed its gaze, there was an image to the right 

The image was of him standing on the walls of a burning and ruined whiterun, below him, men, mer, beastfolk and dragons alike were bowing to him, then the image started moving... Fynrir saw himself drop down and slaughter everyone around him 

The breton turned away and felt bile rising up in his throat, he bit his tongue and took a deep breath to avoid throwing up, he shook his head "no, no that's not who I am"

The dragon barked out a laugh and turned his head back to his human counterpart "your wrong Fynrir, that is who we are meant to be, that is our destiny and once you accept that... they will all sing songs of the destruction we lay in our wake!" It exclaimed with a sadistic glee 

Fynrir shook his head again and locked eyes with his counterpart now glaring daggers at the beast, the breton slammed his foot down "no!" He yelled out in defiance, his voice so intense it almost projected into a Thu'um and shook the ground around them "I will not become what I worked so hard to destroy!" It reared back away from him some, its face shifted from that sick smile to a glare of his own 

The dragon was silent for a moment before smiling again "very well Fynrir, go then and we will see how you fair... you'll give into the temptation withtin time"

-

Fynrir shuttered at the memory, then he heard a voice speak into his ear... the dragons voice, it spoke only one simple sentence "you will break eventually" 

The breton clamped his eyes shut and tried to push the voice away, it didn't work often but this time it did, he let out a very quiet sigh and pushed the hood of his nightingale armour down (he'd removed the mask part during the dragon conflict to make shouting easier) before running his fingers through his hair letting the soothing feeling calm his nerves some 

Fynrir looked back down towards the four people below him and zoned in on the conversation after pulling his hood back up "I'll never tell you anything monster, my oath to stendarr is stronger then any pain you could inflict on me" the vigilant said with gritted teeth... the marks and blood on his face made it apparent that the vampires had taken to beating him for fun and information, but Fynrir got the impression it was mostly for fun

"I believe you vigilant, you haven't the slightest clue what you've found here, go and meet your beloved stendarr" there were two vampires, one a male nord and the other a female imperial, and there was one thrall off to the right... before Fynrir could plan out his attack the nord (Lokil, the woman had called him) slammed his sword down through the vigilants collar bone 

The breton grit his teeth and moved fast, in his anger he jumped down landing with both knees derictly in the middle of the thralls back, the day after his horrifying nightmare he made the decision to stop killing, events that transpired after the dream (events he really didn't want to remember) revealed that the dragon wanted him to be a murderer... and he didn't want to give the beast what it wanted so he wouldn't kill... that rule was quickly thrown out the window when it came to these vampires and any others like them, his whole life he held a disdain for anyone that killed for pleasure like this... besides it wasnt like he had any other alternatives, it's not like he could just knock them unconscious and then give them to some guards to arrest 

Before the female could react Fynrir was back on his feet and rushed her, he swung his leg like an axe making sure the sharp part of his shin made derict contact with the softest part of her thigh, Her leg buckled under her in a gross twist and she let out a pain filled scream "LOKIL!" She cried out to her partner before Fynrir spun around and elbowed her hard in the back of the head snapping her head forward with a sickening crack sound 

The nord man was watching the whole time... he'd been watching since the moment Fynrir landed on the thralls back, and hed done nothing to stop the breton from harming his friends... or people who should be his friends at least 

"Hmm... a vampire hunter with the eyes of a beast, yet I dont smell wolf on you" Fynrir had almost forgotten that his eyes do that, in fights often times his irises would turn yellow and his pupils would shift from a regular circle to a slit... in fights he had the eyes of a dragon "what are you? Your blood smells fantastic"

Fynrir did not like this man... he did not like him in the slightest right now, first he left his partner to get brutalized and killed... then he feels the need to make creepy comments about his blood smelling good "I'm not a vampire hunter... and what I am has nothing to do with you" he gritted his teeth as anger filled his chest... but it wasnt his anger... it was the dragons anger, he closed his eyes for a second and tried to push that side of him away but it persisted and the breton tried to ignore the rage filled voice in his head and focus on the fight ahead 

Lokil smirked at that and pulled his shiny steel sword out, his free hand began dancing with red magic "that's where your wrong... unique blood has everything to do with me"

Fynrir put his hands up his right hand was a little further out then his left, his feet were evenly apart and he was standing on the balls of his feet, his right knee was raised slightly, this vampire was older and an older vampire meant a more powerful vampire, in a completely serious tone the breton asked "what are you some kind of blood connoisseur?"

The vampire cocked his head to the side with the same sick smirk that made the dragonsborns blood boil "not necessarily... I'm just a fan of trying new things, it tends to happen when you've been alive for almost two hundred years"

"You wont get to try me today" Fynrir said staying ready... this guy wasnt gonna be like the other vampires he'd faced before, he was gonna be faster, stronger and tougher, his skills would be top notch after centuries of tuning them to a fine edge...

Even knowing this Fynrir wasnt afraid, or even nervous, he'd stopped being nervous about most fights when he realized he was strong enough to punch through solid stone and fast enough to dodge lighting spells in point blank range 

Lokil moved first rushing him with vampiric speed, the nord brought his blade back and went for a fast and deadly stab to the dragonborn chest 

Fynrir side stepped to the right avoiding the blow with ease, Lokil went forward with his own momentum and when the vampire was almost completely past him Fynrir threw a hard left punch, but the nord quickly fell forward Into a roll dodging the punch... it only missed by inches but had so much force behind it the the vampire could easily hear the air wheezing by and see the tuft of air that came off Fynrirs punch when his arm fully extended 

Lokil rolled back up to his feet and went for a slash derictly at the bretons neck, Fynrir put his arm up knocking the blow away (he was very thankful for the tougher forearm pads his nightingale armour provided) before delivering a solid punch to the vampires stomach, the blow was hard but not there to end the fight, only to get the blood sucker off guard 

The blow sent him back a meter or two but he just barely managed to stay on his feet, before he could fully recover the dragonborn put his hands on the vampires shoulders and used them to vault over him, Lokil turned his head but all he saw was Fynrirs foot coming at him in a perfect round house kick before his world went black 

Fynrir walked away not looking at the vampires body, a sick twisted version of his own voice was barking sadistic laughter in his ear 

The dragonborn took a few long deep breaths letting his heart slow down and trying to calm his boiling blood, the beast was still laughing in his ears, he covered them with his hands and shut his eyes tight trying to ward off all the bad thoughts 

It took a few minutes but he managed to relax enough to continue 

Fynrir ran his fingers through his hair and observed the rest of the room in front of him, the architecture around him was unlike anything he'd seen before, the room was a large circle with some kind of pedestal in the middle 

Not really being one to waste time these days (when he was a little less dragon he probably would have wrote down what he saw... you know being a breton and all) he simply walked up to the pedestal, there was a hand print and what looked like a button in the middle 

Naturally, he put his hand there... and also naturally, it was the right and not right thing to do, Fynrir grunted as the stone spike rammed through his hand

Suddenly the room shifted around him and became more flat, several cauldrons rose from the ground and grooves split around them... 

He poured some void salts on his glove and watched as the black armour stitched itself back together like a wound healing, the actual wound underneath was already half way healed 

It didnt take him all too long to figure out the puzzle, he walked around the circle a few times before kicking one of the cauldrons, he had expected it to hurt... but instead the cauldron moved forward on its groove... purple fire erupted from it and the other grooves next to it began glowing with purple energy 

Once he pushed all the cauldrons into the right place the room shifted once again and a hexagonal coffin rose from the ground, the first thing he thought was "this isn't gonna end well"

Pulling his hood to a more sturdy position on his head, Fynrir cautiously walked around the coffin... cautiously was a bit of an understatement considering every single time he'd been around a coffin it burst open and whatever was inside tried to kill him 

He jumped back a few feet and put his hands up when the wall in front of him began lowering into the ground with a scraping sound that caused his ears some discomfort 

It was a girl... or woman rather, a beautiful woman at that, but more importantly she wasnt a dragur, lich or some other powerful creature bent on ripping his head off... she was however, falling 

Fynrir jumped back to where he was before and caught her in his arms before she busted her face on the stone floor (that would have been a tragedy)

The woman took a moment to collect herself before she looked up at him "w-who are you? Who sent you?" She said before pushing him away slightly but not enough for him to let go, he got a slightly better look at her face now, her eyes were a burning amber... and she had fangs 

Despite this He kept his hands on her shoulders helping to keep her steady but he still kept his muscles tense and ready, in case she made an attempt at his life like most coffin things do "I'm Fynrir... I was sent by... a man named isran" he certainly didnt wanna tell her he was sent by vampire hunters at this moment, cause he really didnt wanna punch someone this pretty in the face "were you expecting someone?"

"I was expecting someone... like me at least" she said backing away a few feet when she regained her footing, her nose up turned slightly and her eyes lingered on his hand before giving him a quick over look

The wound had already healed under his glove but the blood still lingered on the fabric... and apparently it smelled really good to her too "a vampire you mean?"

Her body tensed at that and she slowly nodded her head, he kept his eyes on her face but in his peripheral vision he could see her hands flexing and preparing some magicka "yeah... so does that mean we have to fight?" She could see two vampires dead behind him

"Only if you try and rip my throat out" he explained staying casual but also staying ready... they both shared a similar tense posture but neither made any harmful moves 

"Like those two did?" She asked pointing over his shoulder at the 2 vampires on the ground behind him... for a second she wondered how he killed them, she didnt see a weapon on him

"Like those two did" he repeated and licked his drying lips, a small feeling of anxiety was creeping up his body but he pushed it away "what's your name?" 

"I'm Serana, it's good to meet you" she said offering him a fake looking half smile, she crossed her arms keeping her eyes on him, but her thoughts were clearly else where and concern was ribe on her features 

"It's good to meet you too, I think" he said in a serious tone, had it been any other situation the expression on his face may have been funny to her, he kept watching her for a moment before looking over her shoulder at the stone coffin "how long were you in there?"

She turned to it for just a second and then shrugged a bit "it's hard to say... I feel like it was a really long time though, what's the date?"

"The 31st of suns dawn"

"What year?" She asked moving her arms down a bit, now she seemed to he hugging herself instead of crossing her arms 

"Year 201 of the fourth era"

"The... the fourth era? That's definitely not good" she said, but it didn't seem like she was talking to him and instead was talking to herself, her voice was dense with worry "who the high king of skyrim?"

He inwardly groaned... cause the political landscape of skyrim was the second most thing he didnt wanna talk about, with her or anyone "that's a matter for debate" he said disheartened 

"Wonderful, a war of succession, at least the world didnt get too boring while I was gone, who are the contenders?" She was more then concerned now... something in the plan had definitely went horribly wrong, she looked down and grabbed the potion on her hip, she popped the cork and downed the contents before throwing the bottle away 

It was clearly some kind of blood potion and Fynrir knew that, but he didn't comment on it "a large population of nords support ulfric stormcloak but the empire supports Elisif the fair" he grumbled out both names, while he was sympathetic to ulfrics 'freedom of religion' preachings... he certainly wasnt fond of the whole 'skyrim is for the nords' thing, you'd figure once he became dragonborn (you know, the hero of many nord legends) some of the racism towards his breton heritage would slow down... but it seemed to only make things worse, he didn't have a problem with Elisif all together but as a woman in mourning she was spending less time trying to do what was best for skyrim and more time trying to put ulfric on a spike 

"The empire?" She cocked her head to the side, her body language was tense still but the tension shifted from 'concern and fear' to 'none of this is ok and I'm on the verge of panic'

"Yeah... the empire, from cyrodil" he said putting his hands on his hips, the amount of conversation they were having without it turning into a fight was a very pleasant surprise and oddly enough the dragon in his ear wasnt telling him to murder her which was a very welcomed change compared to the usually chanting about the murder of literally everyone he talked to 

"Cyrodil is the seat of an empire?" As the question slipped out of her lips she only stared... standing unnaturally still she looked at him, or through him, he really couldn't tell the difference 

He nodded his head and after a few moments of silence he changed the subject "So... you have an elder scroll" he said hoping to break her out of this sudden trance and alleviate some of the nervous tension in her bones

She startled a bit and then looked back over her own shoulder seeing the large cylinder still there, Serana looked at him and narrowed her eyes slightly "its mine" it was almost like a challenge but she still made no harmful move at him 

His blood grew slightly hot when she narrowed her eyes at him but the dragon in his head didn't begin chanting about her untimely demise "of course... trust me the last thing I wanna do is get involved with one of them again" he mumble the last part out, he didnt really know if using the scroll at the time wound counted as "reading an elder scroll" but getting evolved with one of those things always led to trouble... whether he was trying to read one or steal one

She didnt comment on it and instead simply observed him for a moment... he was clearly human but he didnt sound nordic or imperial, he was too short, and it stocky enough to be one of them anyway, a breton probably

His face hadn't changed since the moment she saw it either, though she couldn't really see most of his facial features she could feel his expression and it had been the same, downcast, brooding look the whole conversation

Again if the situation was a little different and she wasnt on the verge of a panic attack, this guys serious nature would seem funny to her 

"Why were you down there? With an elder scroll no less?" He asked pullinng her out of her thoughts 

Her expression softened some "it's... complicated and I'm not totally sure I can trust you yet" the vampress explained chewing her lip a bit 

He watched her for a second, he seemed just a bit amused by that statement... the change in expression was subtle though and if she wasnt so good at reading people she would have missed it

"Look..." she continued unwrapping her arms from her body, she was less tense but the anxiety of her situation was still clear in her voice "you may not like this but I think I'm gonna need your help" her eyes seemed hopeful "something definitely went wrong and I have no clue what the outside world looks like now after all this time... I know it's a lot to ask but if you help me get back to my family home I'll tell you more"

Damn his breton genes... damn them to oblivion, cause he really wanted to know why she ended up down there, well really he needed to know, but his sudden interest in the woman was a little more important then the mission right now, plus the vampires were clearly looking for her so she was clearly important in some way to whatever plot they were cooking up 

"Well, as dangerous as that sounds considering your probably dragging me to a home filled with other vampires that will try to eat me... I guess I'll have to run that risk to figure what's going on here" he said crossing his arms and looking at her "but if you try to betray me I'm gonna punch you really hard in the face"

The serious nature of his tone mixed with the actual humor of the statement finally got to her it broke her building fear and she burst out laughing, in reality she didnt think he was actually joking but the way everything fell together was funny to her

'Great... she insane' he though to himself before chewing his lip... cause her light, happy laugh was pretty... well pretty and he was having a hard time not smiling "we should probably head out" 

Her laughter slowly died down before she nodded her head in agreement "your right, the faster I get home the faster I can figure out what went wrong... and even If I can't, I should be safe there" 

He started walking towards the other bridge out of the altar like room and glanced at her "should be? You don't sound all too sure" 

She looked at him as they walked across the bridge opposite the one he came in on... or at least she assumed it was the one he came on given there were several unmoving vampires there "it's not exactly the most welcoming place in the world, my mother and father had a pretty bad falling out a while ago... I'm not in any kind of danger it'll just be unpleasant to see my father" she admitted biting her lip a bit "that sounds so common... "the little girl who doesn't like her her father" like something out of a book" she sighed

He watched her for a moment, his expression still the same blank brooding but oddly welcoming scowl "sounds stressful" he finally said and then kept walking, it sounded like he wanted to sympathize but he didnt really understand the situation or how she felt about it

Once off the bridge Fynrir glanced to the side, he saw the cave that would likely lead them out to the right... but the stone overlook to the left looked like it probably had some good stuff on it, being a broke thief his entire pre skyrim life, pretty much anyone could guess where he went 

"This doesn't really seem like the right way" she said a little nervously, her mood was a little odd to him, she was definitely unsure and nervous about what was to come but yet she had an air of unbreakable confidence around her that shined through her uncertainty 

Fynrir simply shrugged "I'm just checking for anyth-" he was cut off by the loud sound of stone cracking and a guttural roar, he looked towards the noise but he only saw a large stone claw coming right at him with every intention to take his head off

Serana watched as the gargoyle flings it's razor sharp claws at her new traveling partner and was more then certain that he was about to die 

The breton fell Into a back bend to dodge the swipe, he put one hand down on the ground behind him and used it to vault away, just as his feet were in the air he sent one solid up kick under the gargoyles chin rocking it before he landed back on his feet 

Serana was thoroughly impressed by his show of agility and reaction time, though she didnt really have time to comment on it or try to help before another gargoyle came running at her from the left and she was engaged in a fight of her own, the vampress moved and dodged away from the stone claws with the grace of a dancer before she blasted it with ice spear, the projectile stabbed it right through the knee and the beast let out a roar of pain

Fynrir ducked under another slash and spinned through landing a hard turning side kick that sent the gargoyle onto it's back, before it could recover Fynrir jumped onto the beast landing with a knee on its chest before bringing his fist down with all his might, the stone head cracked and split apart on impact, Fynrir was pleasantly surprised that there was no blood 

He turned his attention to Serana intent to help if she nedded it... she didn't 

The vampress slipped under a slash with skilled grace before in a quick practiced fashion sending an ice spear right through the monsters chin and out through the top of its skull, after it fell to the ground she met his and flashed him a small smile before looking at the dead gargoyle and raising her eyebrow, she stepped closer to him "that's pretty impressive I've only seen other vampires break stone like that before and they were ancient" she explained, his hood had fallen onto his shoulders during the scuffle letting her observe his face in more detail, his face looked... soft? 

His bones weren't very prominent and he almost looked pretty, yet he was still clearly a male, his right eye had a painful looking scar running through it that traveled half way down his cheek and halfway up his forehead, both his eyes had heavy bags under them, he was pale as well, paler then her even, his dark red hair was feathery and looked soft to the touch, it reached just past his ears and split in what looked like a natural side part 

"I've always been this strong I guess" he lied straight through his teeth, he didn't exactly want to lie to her but he also didn't want to have the whole dragonborn conversation now... or ever if hes lucky enough "your good with magic, I've never seen anyone cast ice spear with so much ease" he said hoping to change the subject 

"Magic is definitely my specialty" she said flexing her fingers a bit letting the magicka conjoin there and create small sparks at her tips, the feeling sent a familiar feeling through her body, a feeling of confidence and power, she let the feeling linger for a moment before looking towards the other cave entrance "we should go now, before more of these things meet the combined might of our wrath" she said giggling a bit and watching him

To her surprise and delight, he laughed... it wasn't a loud and hearty laugh, just a simple short and quiet... snort really, a small sound of amusement 

Yet it was still the second best thing she'd experienced since waking up (only trumped by the smell of his blood)... and suddenly her goal in life was to hear it again


	2. 2

Stepping out of the cave and getting a deep, long inhalation of fresh air was releaving for both of them, but much more so for Serana, for very obvious reasons, her eyes locked on the small forrest derictly in front of them and the pure white snow that covered the trees, she let out a soft "wow..."

To Fynrir the area in front of them was just a regular old skyrim snowy forest... but to her it was the most beautiful thing she'd seen since her mother put her to sleep who knows how long ago 

The snow shined in the morning sun and she had to pull her hood up to avoid being blinded by it, but that still didnt deter her from taking in the amazing view, a cluster of trees blocked her vision from going any further but something called her to move ahead and get a closer look... for a second she worried that her sight seeing would annoy her new companion, but she pushed those thoughts from her mind, after all he'd been awfully polite so far... not all that indulgent questioning wise, but polite 

She stepped through the small forest and ended up on a small cliff, her breathing caught in her throat when she looked down and saw the beautiful Forrest of the pale beneath her, there was a small building to her lower right that resembled the dwemer cities she had read about as a girl, one of her fathers old servants (who she imagined was likely passed on by now, given his careless nature) had a fascination with the dwemer and told her much about them, next to the building were the small remains of a camp 

But past that... past that was where it got so beautiful that Serana thought her cold dead heart was gonna warm up and come back to life, the view stretched on for as far as her enhanced sight could see and quickly took the cake for the most beautiful thing she has seen since waking up 

The trees were tall and numerous with just a few feet in between them, giving her a nice view of the snowy ground, the tree branches stuck close to the trunk but all looked distinct and separate from each other with smaller branches that featured bushy dying leaves, the brownish grey color of the leaves should seem hideous to her but the snow that clinged to them made all the difference 

Instead of looking dead and decaying, the leaves looked like small individual diamonds that shined in the bright sun, the pure white color that radiated off of them almost blinded her but she couldn't seem to draw her eyes away from the scene, she had technically seen the pale before but it was in the pitch black of night and her mother hadn't given her time to take a good look before dragging her into dimhallow and locking her up...

The memory left a sour taste in her mouth, first her parents had spent so much time keeping her cooced up un the castle and then the one time she can leave her mother doesn't let her absorb everything around her... she shook her head clear of her negative thoughts and returned her gaze to the striking landscape 

"This air is so fresh, it's so clean" she said happily with the brightest smile an undead, nightdwelling woman could have "and everything looks so beautiful out here... I cant believe how beautiful all of this is" 

The smile she blessed him with almost made Fynrir smile, a small part of him wanted to talk about the woods of the rift or plains of whiterun hold... but he couldn't bring himself to do so, he felt that if he did tell her how wonderful those places looked this time of year... he'd be compelled to take her there and show her himself, he cleared his throat a bit and pulled his hood back up "you've yet to tell me where is home you know" he said before motioning to the path back behind them, it led down to a small road that should lead them into Hjaalmarch, if she wanted to stay longer he would indulge her if it meant she would keep smiling this way

She took one more deep breath through her nose letting the fresh snowy air fill her lungs and clear out any dust that may remain there from her long sleep, before letting it out slowly through her mouth and looking at him "it's on an island west of solitude not too far away from the main land" 

The nightingale nodded his head "good, cause were not too far from there, should be about a two days walk to solitude if we dont stop, three if we do" Fynrir explained before starting to walk down the mountain path "we're gonna have stop at solitude though, I'm pretty beat" he admitted, he would prefer to just take her all the way home... mainly so she could be somewhere more comfortable, but he had walked all the way to dimhallow from fort dawngaurd with only a power nap in between, then fought through the whole cave system... tired was a bit of an understatement 

The prospect of staying a night in solitude lit a warm fire in Seranas chest, everything she had read and heard about the capital city when she was younger came rushing back, and for a moment she thought her undead heart might explode 

She smiled a blinding smile and nodded in agreement "then I think it's about a days walk to my home from there, maybe a few hours less" she said before following him down the steps "have you spent a lot of time in solitude?" Serana had always been a curious woman... and Fynrir was proving to be very interesting, to her at least, some other people may have found his cool indifference boring or off putting, but not her, she found it kind of endearing 

Mostly because not only did he punch stone into dust, he also ripped the head off a dragur (and a big dragur at that) with ease, she herself could do that and she knew other vampires that could as well... but to her current knowledge he was just a regular man, that's what he's been telling her at least, his blood smelled amazing, for the most part it still smelled human... but there was something else in his blood that hit her nose in just the right way and gave her the small impression that he was more then just man

He also took a considerable amount of time observing a wall covered in strange looking carvings when they reached the end of the cave, his finger traced across once carving in particular and when she asked if he could read it, he shrugged his shoulders and moved on without a word

He's strong enough to shatter stone, and he has a weird obsession with stone carvings... but more importantly then both of those things he had a very thick layer of mystery surrounding him and he wasnt exactly giving her any clues

The few questions she asked him about himself were dismissed or answered with simple less then detailed answers, he didn't seem uncomfortable with her questioning but he did seem a bit... irritated, it wasnt like she was asking him personal questions about his childhood or family life... most of them were about what he could do physically so it seemed more then a little weird to her that he was getting so miffed over it 

But maybe if she was lucky and asked the right questions, she'd get some kind of insight into who he actually was... after all she is a mage, and part of that meant collecting all the information she could (admittedly that usually meant studying spells or magical history... but she preferred to tell herself and others that her curiosity comes from that and not her childhood)

"I've spent a decent amount of time there actually, I even own a house in the city but I never really stay there despite it being a nice place, I just own the deed basically" he explained glancing at her and shrugging 

"Really? What gave you that many ties in the city? Before I went under the other vampires I knew always said it was impossible to get property in holds like solitude and windhelm" she explained keeping her steps in tune with his own 

He tensed at that question but kept walking, after taking a second to think of way to properly answer, he realized that it was a question he would much rather answer then anything regarding his physical prowess, it wasn't like she was gonna run to the closest guard and report him for his thievery anyway "I've... made several business dealings with higher ups" the breton explained in a... less then inconspicuous tone

Serana stopped for a second and looked at him trying to stifle her laugh "so... what's the part your not telling me? What about these "business dealings" make you so special? With all do respect You don't exactly come off as the type of breton to be a nobleman"

He snorted out a short laugh once again and her face lit up slightly, being able to laugh around someone felt good for the breton... it had been months since he could really do that last "any breton knows how to work the diplomacy table for your information, we're taught the great art of debating from birth, but you are right I'm definitely not the noble type, all my business dealings are more... under the table let's say"

She cocked her head to the side... hes a breton who doesn't use magic and isn't a noble... so he's a breton in blood only pretty much, her curiosity was getting stronger by the second "what do you mean under the table?" 

He sighed a bit and hung his head for a second, he wanted to try and dance around the subject but the conversation was not going that way at all "I'm a thief Serana, a pick pocket, a scoundrel, whatever you'd like to call it" his face hadn't changed much but his expression softened a minuscule amount and there was a hint of pride in his usual gravelly tone "so when I say business dealings I mean I've blackmailed, stolen, lied and cheated my way to some kind of higher position in all 5 main holds"

Serana looked at him for a second and realized that it actually a lot of sense made sense when she really thought about it... his outfit gave off a very sneaky vibe, she had initially expected him to be some sort of scout for these dawngaurd people he had mentioned, but thief made a little more sense, he didn't seem like the kind to take orders very well, she smiled when he spilled the beans and gave her a small bit of information about himself "are you from high rock?" 

He knew what she was doing cause he used to do it to people a lot before he had a dragon in his ear whispering about their untimely death, she was asking him seemingly random questions in an attempt to put his life together to sate her own curiosity "I am" he didnt mine telling her more about stuff like this, besides what little conversation he had with her so far was very stress relieving... probably because the dragon in his head wasnt trying to get him to kill her, which was still proving to be very odd

"Is that why you ended up in skyrim then? Because you were a wanted thief in high rock?" Her eyes remained on him as they walked forward 

He glanced at her from under his hood "pretty much, but for the record I didn't get caught, my at the time aging mentor did, he wanted it to be his final big heist before retiring... he didn't make it and I barely got away with my life" the breton explained licking his drying lips, his expression darkened once again 

Great, now she felt bad for bringing up bad memories "sorry I shouldn't have brought it up"

He shook his head and tried to soften his expression some "it's ok I've had time to get over it, it's been about 2 years since then, give or take a few months" he mumbled the last part out, the dragon conflict went on for more then a year and was so damn all over the place that Fynrir genuinely didn't even know the exact number of months that passed during "have you spent time in solitude?"

Her expression got a little solemn at that and she shook her head "no, I wasn't really allowed to leave the house growing up, being a vampire and all my father made it very clear that any where off the property and out of the house was dangerous" 

He watched her for a second, his eyes lingered on her face as if he was reading her "that's sad, sounds like your childhood was pretty boring" his voice was sympathetic... in a way she appreciated it, most of her life people constantly made excuses for her father's paranoid behavior, it felt good to have someone who knew what she knew, that her father was wrong in keeping her locked away 

"When I was younger, on the clear days you could see the walls of solitude over the mountains from the roof of my... home" she had nearly said castle, but as of right now she didn't wanna tell him that she was literally a vampire princess... he's already paranoid about where she's taking him (and she didnt want him to think of her that way)"I would just sit there and look at it, for hours and hours until the sun came up or the clouds covered my view... I always wondered if inside it was just like in my books" she stopped talking for a moment and looked back on those happy memories 

"Well... your gonna get to see it soon enough, and even stay a night in there, I'd offer to give you a small tour but I'm gonna be really exhausted by the time we get there and that's the last thing I need to be when you drag me back to your nest of vampires"

She giggled a bit and shook her head "I wont let them come after you I promise, are you sure it's good ideas for me to be in a city?" 

"Yeah it'll be fine, you look human" he explained, adjusting the cape to his armour slightly to protect him more from the wind

"You recognized me the second you saw me" she said crossing her arms in front of her 

"That's because vampires have a tendency to sniff the air in my general deriction" he glanced down at her crossed arms before meeting her eyes again "and I had just fought a bunch of vampires right before then"

that was... embarrassing and she was pretty sure she was blushing "well, for whatever reason your blood smells really good, it's not my fault a girl got hungry, your really not worried I'll get recognized?

He shook his head "even if you do get recognized, it's my job to get home right? That also means keeping you safe" he explained moving his eyes forward, he didnt think she needed protection from the guards, but he still felt a need to reassure her 

Now she was definitely sure she was blushing "awe... you sound like a good little thrall right now" 

Fynrir gave the smallest sound of amusement "I'm most definitely not your thrall"

"Your kinda acting like one... maybe I enthralled you while your guard was down" she whispered in a teasing tone and kept her eyes on the side of his hood as they walked... he was definitely a breton but his stature was smaller then most other bretons she knew, not by much but his body resembled an elf more then the citizens of high rock 

"Trust me when I say that its literally impossible, and if you know what's best for yourself you won't try it... that's not a threat by the way it's a warning" he said keeping his voice a nonchalant tone 

"Why wouldn't I be able to enthrall you l?" Her curiosity was peaked now, and she was slightly offended that he thought some silly anti illusion magic would stop her 

He looked at her, just staring for a few seconds before shaking his head mostly to himself "just dont try" his voice sounded serious now and her curiosity grew 

But she would listen, besides she didn't want to enthrall him anyway for two main reasons, one was because her father's whole court would be jealous that she had claim to the best smelling blood possibly in tamriel, the second and most important reason was because she liked talking to him (so far), turning him into a mindless zombie that followed her around to be her snack sounded really boring "I'm still gonna keep calling you my thrall" she smirked a bit 

He let out a quiet groan and rolled his eyes "whatever, but if I catch you trying to sink your teeth in me I'll throw you into the red mountain"

She giggled again and lightly bumped his shoulder with her elbow "you think you could stop me?"

He looked at her when she touched him, he was pretty sure it's the first time anyone had touched with no intention to hurt since before he retired into the mountains... it felt nice, he kept his face straight but inwardly he was smiling "I know I could stop you"

She smirked again and laughed softly "your so cute I could eat you all up" her voice sounded like she was talking to a small child or puppy, she even reached in to pinch his cheek but he turned his head so all she could touch was his hood

He snorted again and shook his head at her this time "not funny"

Her face was bright now, which was weird considering she's very much undead "but you laughed"

He looked at her raising his eyebrow slightly "I definitely didnt laugh Serana"

"Whatever you wanna tell yourself"

-

The walk to solitude took about as long as he said it would, oddly he hadn't slowed down in that amount of time, his shoulders didnt slump and his foot steps hadn't slowed down at all... everything about him was curious 

Serena could feel her heart beating in her chest as the pair walked up the path to solitudes gate... the afternoon sun shined upon the light brown gates and to her light sensitive eyes they almost looked golden 

Her heightened hearing could hear so many noises beyond the walls... children laughing and playing amongst each other, adults buying and selling goods or talking about every topic from politics to the best tasting mead in the city, The inside of those walls were filled with life and joy and Serana could hear every second of it 

Once the gates opened and they walked through it was like the vampress walked into a new world, the lively happy sounds were louder... there were so many smells 

She could smell the cooking food in the inn to the left as well as the wine and mead being served there, there was people of all kinds as well... altmer, argonian, nord, imperial and all the others as well

Old, young, clean and unclean she could smell and sense them all right out of the crowd... she looked at the breton next to her and simply whispered "it's everything I hoped it would be and more"

He had just finished pushing his hood down when he met her excited eyes, an innocent smile spread across her cheeks and he again had to work rather hard to keep his expression neutral "I'm glad then Serana, being cooped up in your home your whole life sounds revolting" his expression visibly soured at the thought of being stuck in any place, because the thought of being stuck in just the reach sounded terrible to him... the fact that was able to confine himself to the even the mountains of the rift was almost a miracle

"It was, but let's not talk about that now? I want to try and have a good time before going home to be inevitably locked up again, what do you say thrall? Being a breton and all, I know you know where to find the best books here" she giggled looking at him and offering him her elbow, that innocent smile still spread across her cheeks

"First and foremost that is racist, second I'm not your thrall, third... the book store is right up here to the left" he said playing into her joke before looking at her elbow and rolling his eyes before loosely intertwined his around it, it was actually pretty refreshing to have someone willing to tease him 

Lokith, his mentor had been a hard nosed man who was mostly focused on growing his skills as a thief and making sure he was behaving himself (outside of thievery) , then by the time he made it to skyrim he pretty much immediately joined the thieves guild and that group had basically no one who was willing to tease, they were all either rude but respectful, apathetic, regular respectful, or just plain old rude, that wasnt to say he didnt love the guild of course and he, Karliah and Brynjolf had their fair share of banter, they were both a little too old and business oriented to really tease and play around a lot (he registered that Serana was probably way way older then them, but physically she looked 25 or 26)

Serana was looking at him with wide and shocked eyes "did... did you just make a joke?" 

Fynrir kept his eyes on the door to the book shop "nope"

The book store wasnt huge but it held its size well and was compact with selections, the bookcases went all the way up to the ceiling and were almost bursting with books 

Serana felt like an archer in a fletching shop 

By the time the vampress had picked out her seventh book she realized there was a bit of a problem... she did not have any money, her mother had not buried her with any gold and she was pretty sure the currency was different by now anyway

The vampress looked over to Fynrir but couldn't really hear what he saying to the shop keep, the only word she heard was "khajit" as she grew closer to him

As if he could sense her distress the nightingale looked towards her, the look on her face must have been one of concern because he walked away from the counter without another word and over to her with a questioning look

She gulped down the lump in her throat and looked at him before looking at the books in her arms and chewing her lip softly "I uh... I don't have any gold" she whispered so other patrons couldn't hear

He looked at her for a second before simply nodding his head in the deriction of the counter, the pair approached and she put the stack of books down in front of the shop keep, she was a dark elf but her skin was a little lighter then usual, she looked at the cover of each book writing them down in a small booklet "that'll be 30 septim sir" 

The word "sir" rang in Serena's ear for a second and she looked at the breton next to her, was he really gonna buy these books for her? Some odd vampire princess he found buried? At first she thought he was just gonna do the thief thing and you know, steal them 

Instead simply Fynrir nodded and pulled out a... rather large coin purse before counting out the money and handing it to the shopkeep 

Serena's heart warmed in her chest as he handed her the books without a second glance, by the time they made it to the inn the sun was already setting, she had been thorough in her picks (thinking about it now she felt a little bad that she had taken so long, she remembered him saying he was exhausted, and that was before two more days of walking)

Once the tavern door opened the vampress was hit with a multitude of smells as Fynrir walked up the counter leaving her to revel in each unique smell, but the one that overpowered the rest was blood... there had to be at least one of every different race in here and they all smelled unique 

But there was one above them all that was drawing her nose... she followed its deriction with shut eyes and only opened them when the blood stopped moving, her nose was pointing her derictly at Fynrir as he got them a room for the night, she was smelling his blood 

And she was enjoying it oh so much 

The vampress looked away from her current companion and absentmindedly covered her nose with her palm as the breton turned and walked back over to her "I got us a two bed, i also ordered some wine, water, meat and bread if you ca- if your hungry"

The vampress was a little surprised that he didnt just get them two rooms... he said that he needed to sleep, was he seriously comfortable sleeping in a room with a vampire he'd just met? Either he was a moron... or very very confident in being a light sleeper and very powerful 

She nodded her head with a small smile, keeping her thoughts to herself and following him to the room, once they were in and the door was shut, she spoke "I can eat food I just don't need to, it also doesn't really taste as good from what I can remember"

He nodded as he sat down in the chair and motioned to the one in front of him "do you sleep?" 

She thought it was a little funny that he was the one asking questions now, up until then it had still pretty much only been her 

She set the books down in front of her before sitting across from him "I dont need to, but if I go long without... eating or I have a really stressful week it'll reguvante me some" she explained leaning her head to the side a bit 

Fynrir nodded in understanding before looking at the books in front of her, he skimmed his eyes down the spines of each book, all seven books were significant events that had happened in the last thousand years or so... "trying to put together how long you've been under?"

Serana nodded her head "yeah, that and I really like to read, I'm sure you understand" the lady came in with the food before bidding them a swift farewell

Fynrir grabbed the wine and took a small sip, it was mostly for the flavor since he would have to dive at least 10 bottles deep to get sufficiently drunk anyway "I do, that's pretty much the most breton thing about me honestly, I'm horrible at magic"

"I've always liked reading since I was a little girl, but I've read every book at my house at least 50 times and my father isn't one to restock" she explained as he filled her own cup up some 

"Well... I could get you more if you want to, I'd offer to take you to the college of winter hold but I think getting you home is more important" he explained, ever since he had come to skyrim and became a rich thief he had done his best to be generous to others around him, considering she had a lot of catching up to do... she wasnt gonna be exempt from his generosity because she's a vampire 

Serana blushed slightly and quickly covered it up by taking a sip of her wine, she set the glass back down "you dont have to do that Fynrir... you work at the college?"

"I want to Serana, just let me, your gonna need all the help you can get catching up, and no I dont work there, i just help them... aquire certain artifacts or books that interest, for a small amount of gold of course" again his voice featured a small amount of pride in his work 

That made her smile "you've got strings all over skyrim dont you?" 

"I do, plus I get to read the books before I take them back" he explained and then shifted his head to the side a bit "don't try and change the subject by the way... I'm getting you some more books in the morning"

The vampress leaned her head back and sighed a bit "fine... but I'm only getting three more" she said pointedly 

That was a lie... without going into detail, Fynrir had to buy a medium sized satchel in order to carry them all

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I say physically enhanced character I mean really physically enhanced, the point I'm trying to capture in this story in an emotional journey instead of a physical one


	3. Chapter 3

"We're getting closer to my home" Serana said bumping his shoulder a bit, if he hadn't been paying attention he might have leaned into the contact like a touch starved child 

"Good, I can finally stop being told that I'm a thrall" Fynrir explained turning his head to look at her

She giggled a bit and shrugged her shoulders "well, you are carrying all my books and you've done almost everything I've asked you, so I'm not technically wrong when I call you my little servant" she laughed again as he outwardly groaned 

Still after three days together and sleeping (well he slept, Serana read)in the same room his face had only shown micro changes of expression, but it started to feel less like a tough guy front and more like he had something on his mind... something that was eating at him, something weighing him down, part of her wanted to ask him about it but her insecurities about her whole situation kept her from doing so... it wasn't like they were friends anyway, he probably wouldn't tell her even if she did ask, that thought alone left a small pit in Seranas stomach that she couldn't quite explain 

The only thing that pulled her out of her own dark thoughts was the more happy expression on his face, even if the difference was minimal, it was still there "I'm not your thrall" he said 

"Whatever you say..." she mumbled as the started walking down the hill... it had been pleasantly surprising that there was no trouble on the walk from solitude to her home, no attacks or even interruptions 

They dropped down the last little bit and started walking down the coastline, it didn't take long for her home to pop up on the horizon "there it is... home sweet... castle"

He grunted out a small laugh and looked at her "you never mentioned that it was an actual castle Serana, and a giant one at that"

She blushed a bit and shrugged her shoulders meeting his gaze "I just... i didn't want you to think that this is me" she said waving her hand to the stone structure across the water "I'm not one of those woman who sit up in the castle all day... coming from a place like this... it just isn't me"

"I understand" he said quickly, it was probably the fastest he'd ever responded to her, because he really did understand "it's not the same but coming from high rock doesn't exactly fit my profession, it may meld well with my innate curiosity but being a thief in a province full of wizards was not easy"

She smiled at his small attempt to relate, while he was right and they weren't the same situation, they were somewhat similar "it sounds almost impossible actually, how'd you get past all the wards?"

He groaned at the memory and shook his head "I had to learn how to untither them, it's basically the only kind of magic I'm ok at and its really just anti magic, but I'd rather have to do that all over again then be locked up in some castle all the time" 

"It certainly wasnt easy, I was cooced up in that place for only hermeaus mora knows how many years before I went under" she chose not to mention the small flinch he gave when she said the daedric lords name 

The rest of the short walk was a comfortable silence, the boat ride was as well with the pair mostly just observing their surroundings, or each other when they thought the other wasnt looking 

To Fynrir, this coast line was probably the ugliest place in skyrim, it was grey and dead with downed trees and fog so thick you couldn't even see out into the ocean, Serana didnt seem to be bothered by it... but then again she grew up here so she was probably used to it 

They got off the boat and Fynrir went to pull his hood up but stopped... he didn't think he would need it for this, he wanted to keep this civil, for her sake and for the sake of keeping his... other self quiet 

He looked up and got a better look at the castle, large was a bit if an under statement, he couldn't see all the way behind it but if he had to guess Fynrir would say this thing was probably bigger then the blue palace... the black stone was unlike anything he'd ever seen before, the usual nordic ruin had some black stone here and there but most were just grey or brown... this whole castle was black "dont you think it's a little... on the nose?"

She looked at him with a furrowed brow "huh? What do you mean?" 

He snorted a bit and gestured to her "bloodsucking creature of the night" he gestured to the castle "castle made from stone black as night"

She looked from him to the castle a view times and then slowly crossed her arms with a thoughtful look on her face "huh... I guess your right, I never really thought about that" she let out a small giggle when he snorted out a quick laugh, the shared humor between them felt very natural to her... like they were old friends reuniting after years of separation 

The pair started walking up the path but Fynrir stopped looking at the gargoyles surrounding them "are these ones gonna attack me too?"

She giggled a bit and shook her head before patting his should a bit "no, and even if they do, you can just punch them to dust again"

"You make it sound easy" he grumbled out, in a slightly irritated tone like everytime she brought up his physical prowess, though this time it sounded a little less harsh

"You made it look very easy"

They walked up a little more but Serana poked his shoulder "hey... before we go in there"

"Hmm?"

She chewed her lip a bit, something she often did while nervous it seemed "I just wanted to thank you for getting me this fair, but after we get done in there I think I'm gonna go my own way for a while and try and figure out some more of what's been going on since I've been away"

The breton nodded his head, he didn't think they were gonna hang out much after this anyway, because he would either be dead or she would be locked up again (he chose to ignore the sudden tight feeling in his chest)"I understand"

"I know your friends would wanna kill everything in here and I know you'll show more restraint then that, but once we're in there just let me do the talking" she said before continuing her subtly solemn walk up to the front gates 

As they approached an older man came up to the gate with shocked eyes "lady Serana is back!" He called out "open the gates!"

Fynrir glanced at her "I guess I was travelling with royalty" he said in a somewhat teasing tone 

She didn't say anything and simply jabbed his arm with her elbow softly 

The gate was raised and they both walked in, After entering through the main door Fynrir almost gagged as an incredibly powerful scent of death and blood assaulted his senses, It took everything in him not to throw up 

The first person to greet them, unlike the watchman, was a vampire “Serana? Is that truly you? I cannot believe my eyes! My lord! Everyone! Serana has returned!” The vampire called out behind him, his voice echoing out

“I guess I’m expected,” Serana said as she stepped into the hall, beginning to descend a staircase into 

a large, wide dining hall. The lighting was dim, but as Fynrir slowly followed Serana, feeling the eyes of the vampire that had called out to everyone drilling into his back, he got a good look at what he was walking into

Three long dining blood drenched dining tables, arranged in the shape of a ‘U’ were in the middle of the hall, men and women all sitting on the outside, facing in, Fynrir didn’t know for sure if they were all vampires, but the vast majority seemed to be, It took the breton about three seconds to figure out where that horrid rotten stench had come from

There were fresh corpses, lying in sections on the tables, every vampire at the table were each greedily digging into the bodies, tearing flesh from bone and drinking the blood, Some severed body parts were served up on tables, and kegs filled with blood were placed around the room with wine glasses to the side for easy access, Where ever Fynrir laid his eyes, there was blood and death 

As they got lower down the stair case all eyes shifted to him and naturally as it seemed with all vampires these days... their noses turned up slightly and they seemed to relish the smell if his blood 

But out of them all only one man at the table really caught his attention, to the right of the middle stood a very large man clad in armour that Fynrir had only ever seen in books... or on dremora, he couldn't see the mans eyes under his helmet but Fynrir knew that he was staring right back at him, he could feel their eyes meeting and the air grew thick around him, he didnt pull his eyes away and he felt a familiar but foreign anger fill his chest and the quiet chanting he would never get used to bellowed into his ear 

“I can’t believe it.” A voice rang out from the centre of the room drawing the bretons attention from the other man, It wasn’t loud, but it came from someone powerful, the voice resonated in a deep call, Fynrir felt his body tense up, his muscles all tightened and prepared to act, his blood had already been hot from the staring match with the daedric warrior, but now it felt like it was boiling and his dragon counterpart moved on from chanting to full on begging for a fight, the dragonborn looked to the man in the centre of the room who was holding out a hand to Serana

He stood tall and upright, in an armour that was all too common in this room, as soon as Fynrirs gaze landed on him he could feel a change in the wind, the breton felt a storm coming... and in the middle of that storm of pain and death stood this man...

He wasn't as big as the dremora vampire but his aura seemed to fill the room and everything about this man seemed to he powerful

“My long-lost daughter returns at least” As the man spoke Serana slowly approached but stopped a few feet short, still maintaining a decent distance between the two “I trust you have my Elder Scroll?”

Serana scoffed and glanced to the side, she saw Fynrir come up beside her... but his expression wasn't its usual cold indifference... an angry scowl stood prominent on his festures “After all these years, that’s the first thing you ask me? Yes, I have the scroll” she said moving her eyes back to her father 

"Of course I'm delighted to see you, my daughter” When the man spoke, every other vampire stopped what they were doing, whether it was staring at the breton or feeding, He had their full attention and It was rather impressive that they all quit feeding just to hear a conversation that didn'treally concern them, but to Fynrir it only proved his suspicion, this man was powerful... possibly more so then himself “Must I really say the words aloud?” The man, Serana’s father took a step closer to his daughter, Serana took a step back

“Ah, if only your traitor mother were here, I would let her watch this reunion before putting her head on a spike” he continued, his eyes moved to Fynrir "now tell me, who it this stranger you've brought into my hall?" 

Every eye shifted from the man to Fynrir once again, if he had been anyone else this situation was enough to make them pee themselves, but he wasn't anyone else... this situation was only making it harder to keep the dragon in his head quiet, as it called out for battle 

"This is my savior, the one who freed me" she explained to her father as she moved to once again stand at Fynrirs side 

A small smile crept up onto the mans face "for my daughters safe and... bountiful return you have my gratitude" he said looking distastfully at the sack of books on his daughters hip "tell me, what is your name?"

The last thing the dragonborn wanted to do was talk right now... mainly because he could barely hear anything except his other self begging for a fight, begging to prove himself better then the vampires surrounding him, he shook his head slightly and managed to grunt out "Fynrir Blood-Arrow" 

Serana was watching him out of her peripheral vision, he looked agitated, and the angry scowl was still on his face, but yet nothing had happened, as of right now the conversation was pleasantly (and surprisingly) civil 

"I am Harkon, lord of this court" his voice was boasting... and he was looking right at Fynrirs chest as if he could hear his heart beating rapidly under his ribs, now Harkon was smirking as he spoke "by now my daughter would have told you what we are"

That smirk sent a spark of rage through Fynrirs body, he had always hated when people acted like they're better then him , throughout his entire life it was one of the things he despised most, but looking back on all those moments in his childhood it made a little more sense now that he knew of his dragon soul "a reclusive cannibal cult"

Well, he certainly had not meant to say that, not in the slightest actually, but on the plus side Serana did giggle a bit, Fynrir felt pride swell in his chest, but he also felt himself losing control... he lamely crossed his arms in front of him keeping his stance casual, as if to show that nothing about this situation was affecting him... even though it was, it was affecting him greatly, but instead of being scared it was only making him angrier and angrier... the dragon had stopped chanting but Fynrir could still feel it there, lingering in his mind 

While Serana had found some humor in his statement, Harkon on the other hand, seemed furious "no... not quite, we are among the oldest and most powerful vampires in this province" he gestured to the court and opened his mouth to speak more but Fynrir cut him off 

"Can we go ahead and skip the monologue and get to whatever happens next please" his hand waved in the air some as if beckoning the man to move on, now Serana seemed less amused and more concerned for his well being and apparently faltering sanity... Fynrir just really wished his dragon counterpart would shut up and give him his mouth back, cause those words were not his own...

"Well... I suppose you are to be rewarded" the man said smirking once again, but his smirk had changed now, instead of the arrogant smile of a man looking at a peasant, he was smiling like a predator looking at prey, the ancient vampire spread his arms out to the side a bit "I offer you my blood, take it and walk as a lion among sheep... men will tremble at your steps and you will never fear death again 

'I never feared death in the first place' he thought to himself before his mouth opened involuntarily once again, this had never happened before... he'd never lost control of his words like this "my blood is powerful enough without adding your disease to it"

The smirk switched to a angry scowl that would have made a lesser man fall to his knees, but Fynrir simply stood his ground and kept his eyes on the man in front of him... but he could still feel Serena's eyes on the side of his head, he didnt look back, mostly because he didnt wanna look at her and see anger on her face 

"Perhaps you still need convincing? Behold the power!" With his arms still out to the side Harkons whole body began to bleed and transform in front of Fynrirs eyes, a horrific roar erupted from the ancient being

Fynrir stood and watched, in the logical side of his mind he understood that this was probably the second most terrifying thing he had ever witnessed... but his blood relished in this opportunity to fight someone strong like this 

Harkon was now a grey demonic bat like creature that floated off the ground and everyhing about it screamed power, an ancient power that the breton could only assume came from a daedra, or possibly something worse... the other vampires, Serana included looked at Harkon with wide eyes, it was probably rare that they actually got to see this from, he floated towards Fynrir sligtly 

He kept his face straight (having learned a long time ago not to show fear in a fight) but he felt panic rise in his chest, he felt control of his body return to him but the dragon began begging to fight again, he jumped back slightly and put his hands up ready to fight "don't come any closer!" His voice was booming and with his blood boiling the way it was, it only seemed natural that his voice projected into a Thu'um and quite literally shook the castle around them 

The vampire clad in dremora armour tensed slightly and stepped forward, Fynrir felt an anger fill his chest but pushed that down, he had to remember that this is about survival now... not fighting 

The bat demon in front him growled "first you insult me, then you threaten me in my own home? I should kill you right here!" He didnt make any moves yet but the room suddenly felt cold as if he had sucked all the heat out of the air and replaced it with his own ancient aura 

Fynrir took the small opportunity and turned his eyes locking his eyes with Seranas, apologizing with his gaze before turning back to her father, every vampire was looking at him and Harkon waiting, and watching like a hungry bear

Fynrir wasnt gonna give them the opportunity to get the upper hand "FUS RO DAH!"

The shout flew out of his mouth and knocked most of the court down onto their backs, the ones that didnt get hit were too shocked to do anything, Harkon himself, the daedric warrior, and all the vampires behind him were sent flying back having taken the full brunt of the attack... Harkon hit the table edge hard and the other blood suckers were thrown more or less out of sight 

The breton shot Serana one last apologetic look before turning and literally jumping up onto the balcony near the entrance before running, the vampire from earlier stood in front but he had no answer for the fist that met his chest causing great pain, probably internal injuries that only a vampire could recover from and sending him flying backwards through the door and gate, conveniently hard enough to creat an opening for the dragonborn 

Using every enhanced muscle in his body, Fynrir ran... before diving into the freezing cold water and swimming away... even when he got out of the water he didnt stop running 

It wasnt because he was scared, he had been scared of course, but the real reason he was running so fast and far was because the dragon in his head was screaming at him to go back and fight, fight almost 20 super powerful vampires on his own...

He didn't stop running until he was almost to solitude 

-

Serana was not happy with basically anything that just happened, she watched as her father pulled himself off the ground and reverted back to his human form... whatever magic Fynrir had just used on him did affect him, but not as much as she initially thought "why did you threaten him? He saved me!"

Harkon looked at his daughter in distaste "he insulted and threatened me! That boy is lucky his heart isn't in my hand!" He yelled out taking a step closer to her, the scowl on his face would have made almost anyone scared

She stood her ground and folded her arms in front of her "he brought me and the scroll back to you... please don't send anyone after him" she spoke in a calm voice trying to defuse the situation 

Loud heavy foot steps were heard behind her and the daedric vampire stood there waiting for Harkons orders... this man had been around since she was born, yet she still knew so very little about him other then that he was her fathers right hand man, and the rumours that surrounded him... he had never said a word to anyone except Harkon, Serana looked at her father with pleading eyes "please... he's gone and he wont come back" she hoped that her voice didnt sound too hurt

The vampire lord narrowed his eyes at her, it was almost enough to make her back down but she remained firm "you have always had an issue playing with your food daughter... I will leave him be, but" he turned towards the court as they stood watching the interaction "if any of you or your underlings come across him on your travels... I would be appreciative to see his head returned to me"

Serana sighed a but and sat down, it wasn't much but it was something... the court would follow his orders and not actually hunt him down (though she was pretty confident he could take them on in smaller quantities) Harkon practically snatched the elder scroll from around her and sat down next to her "feed daughter, your weak I can feel it" he motioned to the thrall on the left 

She didnt like doing what he said but she was very hungry, the thrall came over, a smaller blonde nord woman and obediently offered Serana her neck 

The vampress could feel the strength returning to her as the blood filled her stomach, once she pulled away she offered a small smile to the thrall before looking at her father

The man was sitting there clutching the scroll... it was almost like he cradling it like a child, she was disgusted with herself that she managed to be jealous of the damn thing 

Serana quietly excused herself and went to her old room that was thankfully still her room and still kept in good condition

She plopped down on the bed before dumping all the books out in front of her, she settled on the most recent book in her new collection "the oblivion crisis"

-

Isran was not least bit happy about what Fynrir had done... "I told you before I even joined your operation that I was doing this to figure put their plot and put a stop to it, not blindly kill every vampire I see"

"That doesn't mean you deliver it home!" The man's voice boomed off the stone walls of the fort and several younger recruits practically ran away 

"Do not yell at me" Fynrir growled out making the redguard hesitate slightly before he crossed his arms in front of him "I was trying to figure out what made her so important"

Isran hesitated at the growl but still narrowed his eyes "you let them get what they wanted, her and the damn scroll boy"

"There was 20 of them, and one of me, 3 or 4 of them I could have handled, but I was very much outmatched isran" he explained trying to diffuse the situation a bit, luckily the dragon shut its mouth by now and his usual breton diplomacy had returned 

The dawngaurd leader hung his head slightly and slowly nodded "you... you are right, you couldn't have done anything once you stepped foot in that castle, but in the end they have everything they want and we have nothing"

Fynrir knew that he was right but also knew that there wasnt much they could do about it at the moment, even if he, isran the other members of the dawngaurd all went in there, swords at the ready, with the element of surprise on their side, they would still all be killed... Harkon alone was more then enough to stop them 

It really hurt Fynrir to admit that, for the first time in a very long time he felt truly outmatched, he was confident in taking on a few members of that court at once... but that the power he felt radiating off of the ancient vampire shattered any level of confidence the breton had before, and that form... that demonic bat like creature that Harkon changed into chilled him to the bone even now 

Fynrir hadn't been so... scared since he fought Alduin

And he was scared

-

The next month went by slowly for him, mostly because he spent off of his time recruiting people for the dawngaurd since his persuasion skills were the stuff of legend... obviously the amulet of articulation made things a bit easier

He did his best to help train many new or younger combatants, his physical advantages made him the perfect fit for teaching people how to deal with vampires up close and personal, the only problem was he couldn't go all out or he would hurt someone, so he tried to keep his own strength in check and resembled lesser vampires instead of ancient ones 

Vampires didnt hold back and they also used magic, which as previously stated he was terrible at and couldn't emulate for the life of him

He didn't mind helping the dawngaurd, in fact there were parts of it that he enjoyed, but sparring was not one of them

Because, not only was his dragon counterpart constantly trying to convince him to put his fist through their chest, but none of them were really that good and it irritated him... then again his speed and reflexes were so enhanced that it felt like vampires moved in slow motion, let alone regular mortals 

One of the parts he did like was trying to get some of the more... financially blessed people of skyrim to help the dawngaurd with food and supplies 

It felt good to do what he thought he did best, black mail, Extort and steal until within two weeks the rich and powerful of the province were giving the dawngaurd actual barrels full of gold, some in thanks, and some in fear of prosecution or exposure 

Putting his masterful thief skills to work also helped keep his mind on the more straight and narrow... because it kept his mind off Serana, who seemed to Cloud every other thought that filled his head 

Fynrir couldn't tell if it was weird but he found thoughts of her a great source of comfort... whenever he was dealing with another person, thinking about her made the dragon quiet down unless the situation was growing intense

But they were also a little bit distracting, unless he was doing thief or diplomacy work, his thoughts were clouded with her, or visions of his other side 

It left him with little to no down time, everytime he popped open a book, he'd see her smile or hear a sick laughter... if his counterpart had been a more recently occurring event, Fynrir would have been pretty convinced he was going insane

-

Fynrir was walking back up to fort dawngaurd with two new people at his back... they were good enough people, Gunmar was more or less the typical hardy nord, but luckily not the kind that held unnecessary resentment towards other races, they didn't really interact much after the breton convinced him to rejoin the dawngaurd, it wasn't that he had anything against the man, they just didnt really have anything in common, gunmar was all about slaughtering vampires, and Fynrir was all about trying to get this over and done with so he can go back to his mountain ruin

Sorine on the other hand, he actually got along with really well, considering they were both bretons, she was also kind of insane, and Fynrir found that quirk rather hilarious, especially in a fellow breton since most of his other kin spent all their time being way too serious for their own good

But no matter how well he actually did get along with them his mind was consistently else where... which was normal, except it wasnt just his dragon counterpart telling him to murder the two behind him in cold blood and bring skyrim to its knees

His mind also kept lingering to Serana... it seemed like every other thought ended with her in someway, whether it was her hypnotizing smile... or her laugh, or the way she moved with such grace, she filled his thoughts and... he missed her, he missed her voice and her... beauty, Fynrir genuinely couldn't remember the last time he found anyone beautiful in the way he saw her

Ever since the nightingale learned of his dragon counterpart, he'd done nothing but push people away from him... especially the guild, it hurt him but he knew that it hurt them more (especially Karliah and Brynjolf) but no matter how much that hurt him, he never missed any of them the way he missed the vampress, they didn't plague his thoughts like a sickness in the land 

His time with Serana had been short, but it had affected him greatly 

Fynrir ran his fingers through his hair as he and the new/old recruits walked into the forts front doors, they made it to the center of the front room and looked up at the dawngaurd leader who stood above them on the second floor

"Alright isran you've got us here, now what do you want?" Gunmar called up to the man, suddenly wooden blockades rose from the ground covering all three entrances 

The roof slowly lifted up letting sunlight spray down at them "what are you doing?" Sorine asked covering her eyes a bit 

"Making sure your not vampires" he shouted down, the test went on for a few minutes before the roof shut "alright, I guess you guys are still mortal..."

"Your paranoia never ceases to amaze me isran" sorine called up and crossed her arms 

The redgaurd chuckled slightly "I trust Fynrir has told you how bad things have gotten?" The pair nodded their heads "and your both here, that means your ready to rejoin my fight, Gunmar get some trolls armoured up and ready for battle, Sorine find room and start tinkering on that new cross bow design... and you, we're gonna get to the bottom of why a vampire showed up here looking for you, let's have a little chat shall we?"

Despite the threat in Israns voice the breton looked down so his face was mostly covered by his hood, the corners of his mouth slowly rose Into a small smile, Fynrir didn't think he was ever gonna see her again, for the first time in a long time he was excited... because he was wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My hope for this story is to show Serana almlst exactly how she's shown in game with my own little details added into it, she's a confident badass but also suffers from her own insecurities and past discretions while also adding in some extra elements of curiosity due to her lonely childhood


	4. Chapter 4

Fynrir made a great effort to ignore isran as he walked towards the back room, the man had become... very, very... very annoying in the last month, the breton knew his intentions were pure but that didnt make his constant demands any more bearable

Every time isran spoke to him like he was just a common dawngaurd soilder, the breton had to push down the vivid mental image of incinerating isran with dragon fire, and that wasnt even the dragon trying to influence him 

Fynrir was just that bad at taking orders, (which subconsciously he suspected was because of his dragon blood... but that's besides the point) let alone orders barked at him like a dog, instead of asked or told respectfully 

He rounded the corner doing everything in his power to block out the angry grumbling redgaurd behind him, any noise he heard in his ears ceased when he saw her, he lowered his hood and let his eyes trail over her form 

Serena stood there with her arms wrapped around her stomach loosely, isran had probably said more then a few rude things to her, which in of its self irritated Fynrir, but it was a miracle the man didnt just stab her through the chest with the closest wooden object (then again Fynrir doubted that he could actually beat her reflexes)

The nightingales eyes shifted from her to the room surrounding her, there was a bloody chair in one corner and an upright table rigged with straps and covered in silver spikes... the dawngaurd had put her in the torture room to wait for him... the room that was very obviously used to torture other vampires 

Fynrir grit his teeth slightly and shook the anger from his head, he understood that the dawngaurd was just scared and likely put her here for their own comfort... but the dragonborn had a distinct feeling that isran had ulterior motives

As soon as he came into her view her face lit up and blessed Fynrir with that beautiful and sweet smile, it quickly swept away all the bad feelings he was harboring towards the redgaurd coming up behind him "bet you weren't expecting to see me again" she said chewing her lip slightly, she looked as genuinely happy as he'd ever seen her, but there was also a nervousness in her tone 

Seeing his brooding face again was a relief for a multitude of reasons, but chief among them was the simple fact that he was a friendly face, and she hadn't been around one of those since he ran out of her castle a month earlier 

He shook his head at her "I really didn't... but I'm glad your ok, I was pretty convinced your father was probably gonna have you executed for bringing me near your home" 

When the sentence finished... he smiled at her, it wasnt a large smile filled with teeth, just a simple up turn in the corners of his mouth, but that little facial movement was possibly one of the best things she'd seen since waking up... she resisted her sudden urge to hug him, she didn't really know if it was the first time he'd ever smiled at her... but it was certainly the best smile he'd graced her with so far

The man next to him looked between the two in disgust but chose (wisely) not to say anything, the dragonborn spoke up once again "what are you doing here?"

"Do I have to have a reason to visit my favorite travelling partner?" She teased with an oddly innocent smile, that same smile that had been distracting Fynrir for all this time, just as the vampress opened her mouth to speak again, the dawngaurd leader cut in

"Lets keep this to business, I dont want you here any longer then you need to be" isran explained crossing his arms and staring daggers at Serana before looking at the breton "none of that sarcastic bull shit boy, we hear what it needs to say and then I'm going to stake it..."

Fynrir sighed and looked up at the roof for a moment, silently praying to all 8 devines before looking at isran with narrowed eyes "you really need to stop telling me what to do isran, I'm not under your command, I agreed to help you, not become one of your soilders... we're gonna hear what 'she' has to say and then we'll plan from there" he stated staring the redgaurd in the eyes 

Isran narrowed his eyes as well, but instead of opening his mouth (which may or my not have resulted in a burst of dragon fire) the redgaurd slowly sat down and pulled his war hammer off his back and leaning forward resting his chin on the pommel "fine" were the only words that left his mouth 

After watching the quick back and forth she stepped towards Fynrir getting his attention "please listen before he loses patience and does something stupid"

Fynrir nodded his head and motioned for her to continue but kept isran in the corner of his eye, he didnt think the man would do anything stupid... but his counterpart had gotten a little stirred up by the stare down and he couldn't help but keep watching the man, Serana continued "it's about me, and the elder scroll that was buried with me"

"What about you?" He asked crossing his arms and keeping his eyes on hers 

She smiled softly and moved her arms away from her stomach, she seemed less nervous now, and she was also glowing, which to his knowlege meant she had been feeding correctly... Fynrir didnt really know how to feel about that, either way she looked beautiful (and that thought made him blush) "there's some sort of prophecy in the scroll... I dont know what it says exactly, since I've never actually heard it, but i do know that it drove my father completely insane"

Fynrirs expressed visibly soured at the mention of Harkon and she was pretty sure hers did too "he's never been a good person, even by vampire standards but after he learned what this scroll says he got worse..."

"What kind of prophecy is it?" Isran spoke up from the chair keeping his eyes on Serana in a death glare... it was starting to irritate Fynrir 

"Like all prophecies it's pointless and vague, it could mean the end of nirn itself or it could actually mean nothing, again I've never heard it but the part he grew obsessed with spoke... spoke of a time when vampires would no longer gave to fear the sun" her voice almost sounded disgusted at her fathers intentions 

That was the last thing Fynrir wanted to hear, he was kind of hoping that this whole vampire problem would just end with an army of a thousand dawngaurd warriors storming castle volkihar without his help and preferably winning (a thousand sounded like enough to beat Harkon, though in his mind he wasnt totally sure), but now he had to stay involved... because he couldn't run the risk of someone like Harkon controlling the sun, that unwanted need to protect those weaker then him wouldn't let him turn his back to something like this... as much as he didnt want to, Fynrir knew he was gonna have to try and solve this problem derictly 

"My mother and I didnt want to insight a war on the rest of tamriel so we took the scroll and hid away..." Serana continued, she brought her arms hugging herself again, she looked more then a little uncomfortable about the situation 

Fynrir watched her for a moment and licked his drying lips "you took a risk coming here"

"I know, but something about you makes me think I can trust you, I hope I'm not wrong" she gave him a small somewhat unsure smile, his heart panted in his chest when the word trust rang in his ear

"Your not, and you can trust me" He said stepping a bit closer to her with that incredibly cute, small smile "where should we start?"

Her smile widened at that showing her fangs but that didnt bother Fynrir, isran on the other hand cringed seeing them "well first we need to figure out what the scroll really says, and if we're lucky it will tell us how to stop the prophecy, and maybe my father as well"

He briefly thought about the time ar the throat of the world... when he learned the dragonrend shout and had his first confrontation with Alduin, to his knowledge being at the time wound was the only reason the scroll didnt turn him insane or blind "I take it being a vampire doesn't let you read those things?"

"Not at all, to do that we'll need to find a moth priest, only problem with that, is their half a continent away in cyrodil" she said putting her finger on her chin in thought 

Isran put his hand up catching their attention "i was staking out a round a few days ago, and saw some imperial scholar, maybe that's your moth priest"

"Did you find out where he was going?" Serana asked hopefully 

"No, and I'm not going to waste soilders looking, we're fighting a war against your kind and I intend to win It" he looked at Fynrir 

Serana looked at him as well, the breton met her eyes and didn't even spare isran a glance "I know where we can go" he turned tail and gestured for her to follow him

That was exactly what she wanted to hear from the man with connections everywhere, she smiled and then followed as he began walking out of the room

Suddenly isran grabbed his arm and pulled him back some "I said... I'm not wasting any soilders looking... boy" his eyes were glaring and looking derictly at Fynrir, in reality he probably only cared about keeping Fynrir around because he was the only person here who could manhandle a 200 hundred year old vampire without breaking a sweat 

Fynrir felt his blood start to boil and he growled sligtly, the dragon barked in his ear, telling him to kill isran here and now, the breton grunted under his breath and pushed the voice away, his focus returned to him "luckily for me, I'm not your soilder" his eyes traveled to the hand holding his arm and with little effort he yanked it away, almost pulling isran off his feet in the process 

The pair began walking away, but isran spoke up once again "I want a full report on your findings..."

The breton glanced over his shoulder and shrugged "you'll get them if I can send them out, keep your soilders ready until then and try to keep the fight going... like you said your in a war, keep it that way" that was probably best for the pair if the dawngaurd did keep fighting... the more they fought the less vampires were on he and Seranas tail 

He didnt give isran time to respond as he guided her over to the stairs, other dawngaurd members were watching them, some whispered but most just kept to themselves as the pair walked out of the fort 

"That was pretty intense, I thought you were gonna throw him through the wall" she giggled with a shake of her head 

He simply shrugged his shoulders as they walked down the hill "his heart is in the right place, but he's too obsessed with stopping the vampires that he cant look past it and see the bigger picture" of course the bigger picture would lead to them stopping the vampires... but Fynrir honestly didnt have the patience to try and explain that to isran 

"Him being a vampire hunter means his heart is in the right place?" She asked crossing her arms slightly and keeping her eyes on him 

Fynrir stopped and looked at her, the look on her face was apathetic but he could see the underlying tension growing "in the grand scheme of things, yes Serana, your the only vampire I've been around that didnt try to eat me" he explained, he didnt want to offend her but this was simple truths 

She cocked her head to the side a bit,   
In her heart she knew what he was saying was true, but yet she couldn't help but be offended "we're not all heartless beast Fynrir"

"I didnt say you all were, I know that your not" he explained hoping to ease her mind some, he had clearly failed in his attempt to avoid offending her, but he also wasnt really the kind to hold back his thoughts 

"Not all of us can control the hunger, in fact most vampires cant control themselves and turn feral if they go too long without eating" she explained rubbing her arms a bit, they walked past the gates, both made an effort not to look at the soilders surrounding them, but it still made Serana just a little uncomfortable... 

"So... in a way, alot of vampire cant really control themselves and that's why they end up being so... aweful?" He asked trying to come to a middle ground with her

"Exactly, they get so hungry that all they can think or talk about Is their next meal" she explained, a sympathetic expression plastered on her face, she hated stories like that, the story of a normal farmer getting turned and then brought to the brink insanity was a tragedy no one should have to deal with "and then some are just sick bastards... but they were sick bastards before the disease too, then their new powers let them really show that to the world, but its not being a vampire that always turns people bad, it happens to some, but a lot of vampires are already bad" the sympathetic looked turned to a scowl, Serana had always held a small disdain for vampires like that... the destruction they often left in their wake gave the good vampires (though there were few, there were still some) of the world a bad reputation 

If anyone could understand and sympathize with self control issues, it was Fynrir... he didnt vocalize that thought, though for the first time... he felt a want to tell her his... problem, but he couldn't bring himself to do so, the nightingale gave a sympathetic nod "I get it, the disease isn't always the problem... it just depends on who gets it"

She met his eyes and let a smile cross her her face... it felt good to have someone who could actually listen to her and understand what she was saying... instead of blindly agreeing with every word she says to try and get on her good side "I'm glad you can understand, it would totally suck to kill such a good thrall just because he didnt agree with all my views"

Instead of the expected groan or eye roll, Fynrir let out a quiet, short (and to Serana, very cute) laugh and kept the walk going 

-

The pair walked out of dayspring canyon and set off down the road... to where? Well she still didnt really know, Cause he still hasn't told her "so... where are we going exactly?" She asked looking from the road to him, she felt her breath catch in her throat for just a second, his hood was down and his hair shined in the sun like bright, wine red embers

"Theres only one place in skyrim that has eyes everywhere at all times" he said, there was pride building up in his chest and his voice echoed the feeling, he looked at her, the proud and almost smug look on his face only added to her current... loss of thought

"And... where's that?" She leaned her head to the side, his words had almost slipped past her ears unheard... all she could seem to focus was his dark red hair, she had found him kind of attractive from the beginning... but as the last month went by and all she could seem to think about was him, she caught her mind considering him more and more cute, and that new attraction, mixed with being so close to him again... was leaving her more then a little distracted 

"Lady Serana" he bit back a chuckle when she groaned at the name "I'm taking you to the city of thieves" the pride that had been his voice was louder and she could here it resonating from his chest 

After finaly learning where their destination was, she spent a few minutes just watching him as they walked, mostly because she liked looking at him (which she would never admit outloud because that was actually the most embarrassing thing she could think of) but also because she really wants to figure out a way to bring up this whole... dragonborn thing 

Serana was not a stupid woman, she never had been and never would be, it was clear to her the second she got a whiff of his scent that Fynrir wasnt fully human, then the way he killed that gargoyle only confirmed her suspicions that he was more then the average man 

Initially she had no idea what he could be, he didnt smell like a werewolf (and they weren't actually known for exceptional strength outside of their beast form anyway) 

But then back in her castle... he shouted, she had never actually seen a shout in person but she knew what they were, she had been around when dragons still roamed the skies after all

What really tied it all together in her head was the story Vingalmo told her... about the mysterious dragonborn in the black hood that only the jarls or other people of high importance truly know who he is 

Even her father didnt know who he is, and her father knows basically everything to do with skyrim 

But she knew now, the next thing she did after learning of the recent dragon conflict (that was still in a way on going? To her knowledge Alduin was dead? Or gone? but dragons still roamed the skies) was stick her nose in every book about dragonborns the castle had to offer 

She used this little investigation to pass the time, since she was basically an honored prisoner at the castle 

It didnt take her too long to realize that she had most definitely traveled with the dragonborn... 

And now she was travelling with him again, and she really wanted to bring up that he's dragonborn, because it's really cool 

"So... you can shout pretty good huh?" Scratch that, it just went from cool to awkward, cause his entire body went rigid and his steps momentarily stopped 

He looked at her, the expression on his face was indescribable... it looked blank but there was something more hidden underneath, despite this he slowly nodded his head "yeah... yeah I can" this was certainly the conversation he didn't wanna have right now

"That's pretty cool..." she said, she could feel her nerve wavering and she was much less confident in questioning him now... but she really wanted to know "and... I'm guessing you can do that because your dragonborn"

Fynrir groaned a loud but internal groan and then nodded his head once again, but this time the movement looked stiff... and almost regretful "yes, I am" he grumbled out, 

"What's that like?" She asked but her words went in one ear and out ther other, the look in his eyes was distant now... like he was looking through her and not at her

Fynrir wasn't mad at her for finding out or for asking him about it, because it's not like she knows it's a sensitive subject, but that didnt mean he wanted to talk about it... if it was up to him the power would just be stripped from his body and tossed into oblivion or given to someone more fitting

But it wasnt up to him, it was up to the Devines, or whoever it was that... cursed him with this power, he could feel his heart rare picking up in his chest

Serana watched as he thought to himself, the breton still hadn't responded to her question and his hands were moving at his side, he was continuously clenching them into fist but he didn't seem angry... at least not angry at her "Fynrir are you ok?" She asked 

But he couldn't hear her at all this time, for just a moment he shut his eyes and when he opened them he was in a familiar dark black area, the ground under him changed from the weathered old walk way to a clean slick stone floor... Serana was gone and was instead replaced by an all too familiar dragon

His counterpart smirked, the smirk was sick and filled with so much malicious intent that it made the dragonborns stomach churn "hello Fynrir"

The breton narrowed his eyes, an unfamiliar feeling filled his chest... the feeling of his own anger "what's happening? You only show up to torment me in my dreams" 

The dragon let out a low guttural chuckle "that is only because your sleep makes it easier for you to see your true self"

Fynrir gritted his teeth and growled out "you are not my true self, I am not a monster who wants to hurt everyone and everything around me"

"But you do want those things" the beast sneered out, its voice rang out around them 

The nightingale felt his heart picking up speed, but he stayed firm in his stance "No you do"

His counterpart laughed once again but it was a louder more sinister cackle "I am you Fynrir"

He was about to retort but shut his mouth, because the dragon was right... this dragon was him in some way, but what way? Was it his soul? 

That question filled his chest with a sense of dread that made his stomach tie into knots, all he could think about was how badly he wanted out of this place now, he tried hard to focus on anything else besides the dragon in front of him but no matter what he thought about he was still trapped here... 

Then one image filled his mind... the image of a beautiful woman, with hair black as night, burning amber eyes that he could spend hours lost in, and a smile that could bring the roughest warrior to his knees 

"Serana..."

The dragon recoiled away from him, it wasnt an exaggerated movement and the heat showed no fear, but there was a hesitation there that Fynrir had never seen before, the dragonborn stepped closer to the beast "you've called for the blood of everyone I've been around since I defeated Alduin, from people I've never met to my closest friends I hear you in my head telling me to kill them... to prove I'm better then them"

"Because we are better then them" the dragon said with sadistic glee in his voice, but there was something hidden underneath, something that had never been there before 

He put his hand up to silence the beast and continued, something he'd never been able to do before, Fynrir had never been able to silence the monster so easily before, but in this moment, for the first time he felt something deep in his chest, something that pushed him forward "but yet... when I look at Serana you finally shut your mouth, why?"

The dragon tilted his head to side, its smile shifted from a sick sneer to a curious one "that my dear other half... is a question about you, I do not have the answer to"

The world went pitch black once again and then he was standing in front of Serana back on the weathered path to riften 

The vampress was looking at him as if waiting for an answer, his mind readjusted quickly and he remembered where he was "I'm ok Serana" his voice sounded uncertain, even to him 

"You kind of... blacked out there for a second" she said stepping a bit closer letting her eyes gaze over his body as if he had suffered some kind of physical wound, she looked up gazing into his eyes and checking for any signs of mental tampering 

"I know I did" he said, he didn't step back but he did feel a blush spread across his cheeks as she leaned a bit closer 

She leaned back out of his personal space, he analyzing look changed to one of concern and guilt "Did something I say upset you? I'm sorry-" he cut her off, with a small wave of his hand

"Don't be worried about that, it's not your fault" he spoke and took a deep breath before looking down at the ground trying to push the... hallucination out of his thoughts 

She leaned her head to the side,nthe concern was still ripe on her features "you... can talk about it if you want" she suggested 

He looked back up at her and flashed a small smile trying to reassure her that he was indeed fine "maybe some other time, but for now we have more important things to do"

She smiled back and nodded "ok then... well will you at least tell me a bit of yourself? I dont really know anything about you except that your a thief and part dragon, you know a bit about my parental issues, I think it's only fair that I know a bit more about you"

He raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms, her voice alone fixed his mood... "you know I'm a thief but yet you think I care about fair?" 

She smirked at that "I think your gonna be a good little thrall and do as I ask" 

He rolled his eyes and groaned a bit "if you actually want me to tell you then your not doing a very good job of persuading me"

She giggled and shrugged her shoulders "your still gonna tell me" she pointed towards the road "walk and talk?"

Fynrir snorted and simply nodded as he started walking "what do you wanna know?"

She thought for a second, this was important because she had to ask the right question here, certainly nothing about dragons... that was what led to the whole black out in the first place

"How did you end up with the thieves guild?" She asked keeping her steps 

"I was a thief before skyrim and I came here as a wanted fugitive, my mentor had some connections with the guild, he pointed me towards riften before passing and when I got there I was lucky enough to actually be approached by the recruiter, I did two little test and then I was with the thieves guild" he explained lamely 

She was so genuinely annoyed by his slow and boring recount of his joining that she actually punched him in the shoulder, pretty hard on top of that "your a horrible story teller!"

He lightly rubbed the spot she hit and simply shrugged his shoulders "it wasnt much of a story to tell" he wasn't even teasing, pretty much the first thing he did when he got to skyrim was make the journey from markarth to riften 

"Fine then tell me about what you did with the guild"

Fynrir looked at her and gave that small but adorable smile "that lady Serana, is a story worth telling"


	5. Chapter 5

"Now that was a good story" Serana said as they walked up to the wooden gates of riften, dusk had come and it felt like a couple hours had went by but she didnt really know, since all she could focus on was his voice as he recounted his first two months with the guild, it sounded like such an adventure... she wouldn't ever admit it but she was a little jealous that he lived such a full and fascinating life even before becoming the dragonborn 

His time as the guild master was actually very short lived in the grand scheme of things, he had been in charge of the guild for three months before he got caught trying to smuggle something out of the border near falkreath (he simply summarized it as a business inquiry) and brought to helgen... then his life as the dragonborn started, from what he told her he still did plenty of thief work but he had more or less let the other three bosses of the guild take his place during the dragon conflict 

All of his allies still called him the guild master during this time, but it had become more of an honorary title until he finally gave up the position to a woman named Karliah (who he also loosely mentioned was probably his closest friend)

Just that little bit was interesting to her, she'd never heard the intricate business side of being a thief before... but the mystery of who was undercutting the guild, the eventual treachery of Mercer Frey, becoming a nightingale (which even she thought was a myth as a child) and restoring the guild as a true foot hold in skyrim was the really intriguing stuff

Even if he had never been the dragonborn, if she read a book about his life with the guild it may have been one of the best books she could ever read

Serana had been right when she first met him, he was certainly a mystery ready to be unraveled... because his entire time with the guild and everything he did there only took up 4 months in total 

She could only dream of what stories he could tell about sneaking through the wizards towers of high rock and undoing their wards in a way that she didnt think she would ever understand, then his life as dragonborn and all the fights and ordeals that must have come with that...

She was literally walking with a walking book series that would take at least ten volumes to get the whole story across 

They walked into the city side by side, Serana stopped for a moment and just observed what was in front of them... the city was a little foggy and the sunlight had a hard time breaching through the abundance of buildings that surrounded them, on the right stood a large building, judging by the amount of windows, Serana assumed it was an inn 

The dragonborn followed her eyes "that's the bunkhouse... we definitely wont be studying there" he said with a quiet snort

The vampress wondered why... but didn't take the time to ask as they began walking once again, instead of walking across the small bridge that lead to another inn and the market place, they walked left towards the other walk way that led them past several houses pushed together, even though they looked so pushed together and she couldn't see Inside, Serana got the idea that each house was spacious and roomy 

Even though her attention was mostly on the city surrounding them, she still kept an on him as they progressed deeper his shoulders lifted slightly, his chin jutted out and there was a new glow encompassing him as he walked through the city of larceny 

Fynrir was at home, and he looked like it, she'd never seen him look so comfortable and relaxed before 

Then it struck her, she was in the city known for its scoundrels and thievery, with a former leader of the thieves guild... and he was most definitely taking her to the guild base, with a deep blush she reached out and poked his shoulder to catch his attention "are... are you taking me to meet your family?" She asked as he led her through a stone walk way 

Ahead of them was a large church, she recognized the symbol, instead of going into the temple of mara he led her under the balcony to the right and around back 

His eyebrow twitched at her question and he chuckled the shortest chuckle in the world "not technically, but the guild is the closest thing I have to a family" he explained crossing his arms "why?"

She smiled a convincingly innocent smile at him "I just hope they dont realize your under my spell" inside she actually felt nervous... because she was about to meet a mans family, and while their relationship was certainly not romantic... it was still the first time she ever met a mans family, or any family that wasn't full of other vampires 

He rolled his eyes and went to continue walking before he stopped midstep and looked at her again "actually you should probably expect karliah to be a little... protective at first"

Serana giggled a bit and shrugged "what is she your mother?"

The breton snorted and shook his head "no but she's my best friend and me hers, I was pretty much her only friend after she lost gullas" he explained running his fingers through his hair 

"I understand, I just hope none of them actually think I'm trying to deceive you"

He shook his head "you dont have to worry about that" he said as he brought into the small shed near the back, he clicked a small button in the center 

The stone shrine in front of them started moving backwards "subtle" Serana said 

"It gets the job done" Fynrir explained with a shrug "It's not like I'm taking you to the blue palace"

"And here I thought this was a romantic get away" she said as he led her down the small stair case, he leaned down and opened the trapped door 

"Nope, just a den full of thieves" he explained while motioning for her to drop down "sorry if it's not up to your princess standards" it was clearly meant to be a tease but the dry and broody way he delivered it made it hard to tell at first

She scoffed and he let out another quiet snort, she dropped down, he followed close behind

The cistern was... less then impressive, the beds were nice and there was food everywhere, as well as people, the architecture was all basically bland brick and stone, the only real decor was the shrine to nocturnal off to the left and the book case filled with lovely little trinkets to the right

It wasnt the best place in the world but then again she shouldn't have expected it to be, like he said it's a thieves den 

"Fynrir!" a voice called pulling Serana away from her observations, a dunmeri woman jogged up to them, she stood a few inches shorted then Fynrir but Serana felt an air of strength around her

"Karliah, I've missed you" the breton said with the brightest smile the vampress had ever seen on his face "this is my friend Serana" he said motioning towards the woman next to him 

Serana smiled at the guild master and nodded her head in respect "fynrir has told me a lot about you, its a pleasure"

Karliah looked at the breton, there was a question in her eyes that Serana couldn't quite put her finger on, she assumed it was distrust but the lack of negativity made it hard to tell, the guild master turned her eyes back to Serana "it's nice to meet you too Serana" she bowed her head in a similar respectful nod before smiling "now that we're past the pleasantries, let's get to the real reason your here" she turned to Fynrir 

Serana turned to him as well before the guild master continued "you only come here to collect your gold or when you need something, so what is it?" Her voice sounded good natured but there was a scolding tone hidden underneath it

Fynrir watched her for a second, his eyes glanced to Serana and for a split second he looked guilty "when you say it like that it sounds bad" now he even sounded guilty, like a child getting scolded by his mother

Karliah rolled her eyes and motioned for him to move on "just tell me what you need Fynrir"

Serana watched the interaction while trying to hold back her laughter, seeing him interact in such a light and easy tone was new and entertaining 

Fynrir stayed silent for a moment and then in a guilt stricken voice he said "I... I need information"

The vampress broke out into heavy laughter this time as Karliah scoffed "of course, what do you need to know my friend?" She said as her face shifted into a small smile, while it was clear to Serana that his lack of communication was an annoyance, it was also clear Karliah didnt hold any real resentment for her friend 

Serana covered her mouth trying to hold back the giggles as Fynrir asked "we're looking for a man that calls himself a moth priest, have you heard anything?"

Karliah put a finger to her chin in thought "the moth priest..."a few moments passed before she snapped her fingers and met Fynrirs eyes "Rune was checking out a farm near here and said he saw some scholar with a big group of guards, he might know where you should start looking" 

The breton nodded "I'll need to talk to him then" he turned towards Serana but the vampress shook her head

"I'd like to talk to Karliah actually, if that's ok with her" she looked towards the dunmeri woman questioningly 

The guild master nodded with a small smile, Fynrir looked between the both of them before shrugging his shoulders, mumbled something about woman and walking away, he walked around the cistern and a tall broad man stood up and embraced him in a strong hug 

Karliah turned towards Serana and sized her up slowly, there was no threat in her eyes but the gaze hold some heavy suspicion "My apologies... I mean no disrespect but I hope that your not trying to influence my friend in anyway"

Serana sighed and then shook her head "No disrespect taken, I promise that I'm not... he's just helping me with something" she hugged her torso, every time she thought about her fathers plan a shutter ram through her body... whether the shutter was anger or sadness, she didnt know "something important"

The guild master nodded her head and took a quick quiet moment to observe Serana... it was like Karliah was reading her every motive and deciding if she believed them or not 

The dunmeri woman nodded, mostly to herself, an affectionate smile spread across her face "he's been doing a lot of that lately"

"What do you mean?" Serana leaned her head to the side 

"Helping people, it seems to be the only thing he does these days" Karliah crossed her arms but that sweet smile was still clear on her face "he even joined the temple of mara... in a way at least"

"Really? He does not seem like the mara kind of guy" Serana said looking over at the breton... he seemed so comfortable, but there was something else in his posture and expression... something he was trying to keep hidden, something dark 

Karliah lightly bumped her arm with hers "you see it too don't you?" Serana looked at her questioningly "I though it was just me and Brynjolf but I can see it in your eyes, you know that Fynrir is hiding something... something bad"

The vampress nodded her head "yeah, I see it... something is bothering him" she didnt really understand it, in the grand scheme of things she barley knew him, they had only spent a few days together but some how, some way it felt like she knew him so well... there was an attachment there that she didn't think she would ever understand, she hoped he could feel it too but of course to know that, she would have to ask him, that thought made a blush creep up onto her pale complexion 

"I've tried to talk to him about it but he always blows it off, he's never done that to me before" Karliah chewed her lip, she was watching Serana as the vampress watched Fynrir, and she could see something in the vampires eyes... she'd seen the look before "how long have you two known each other?" She asked with a subtle but cheeky smile 

"Not long at all actually, about a month ago I was... away, and he helped me get back home, we traveled together for a few days and I guess you could say we hit it off pretty well" Serana explained hugging herself a little tighter, she was feeling less uncomfortable but more nervous, mostly because she couldn't decipher Karliahs smile for the life of her 

"Walking through the treacherous lands of skyrim is a great bonding experience I've noticed" the dunmeri woman explained keeping her little grin dericted at Serana "you seem to trust each other, has he told you much about himself?"

"Not as much as I would like, but I'm sure he could say the same thing about me, he's mostly told me about his time with the guild" Serana explained with a small shrug, it didnt bother her to know so little about the nightingales life, and she hoped it didnt bother him to know so little about hers, but it still felt a little weird to admit... here they were, trying to stop her father from blacking out the sun together and she still doesn't even know what part of high rock he grew up in

Karliah nodded her head "his thief business is his favorite thing to talk about, out of every thief I've ever met in my life Fynrir takes the most pride in his work"

"I've noticed that, everytime he talks about being a thief it's like his whole mood picks up, then the one time I talk to him about being dragonborn he gets... awkward and irritated" the vampress explained moving her eyes back to Fynrir, he and the taller man were still talking and the older man (who she assumed was Rune) looked deep in thought as he spoke

"He hates talking about dragons" Karliah said in a sympathetic tone, she had so many unwanted memories of the breton having entire melt downs when someonewould ask him about his first dragon kill... or the battle at the end of the conflict "I think he takes so much pride in his work because he's probably the best at it" the dunmeri woman explained trying to change the subject

"The best?" 

The guild master nodded and smiled once again, the smile wasnt cheeky... it seemed affectionate but there was something ddsper there "the best, when he walks he's more quiet then most of us while actually sneaking, I've seen him pick pocket rings off nobles fingers and charm men and woman into giving him their whole coin purse" she explained, the admiration in her voice was clear to hear and Serana herself was rather impressed "the only thing he's not better then everyone at is lock picking... but those are all pretty much the same"

Serana giggled and rubbed her hair softly "good to know I'm walking around with skyrims number one scoundrel"

"You are also walking around with its hero" Karliah matched her laughter, but her expression darkened slightly 

The word hero wasnt something Serana would use to describe many people but it felt accurate for Fynrir... the vampress gulped and licked her dry lips, Fynrir began walking back over to them "it was good to meet you Karliah"

The guild master nodded "of course it was a pleasure Serana, hopefully we can talk again soon and maybe then you'll be able to meet Brynjolf"

After a quick goodbye hug Fynrir and Serana were out of the cistern and walking towards the gates of riften "where are we heading now?"

"Dragons bridge... on the other side of skyrim, it can never be easy with these kinds of things" the breton said in exasperation

The exhaustion in his voice came from two main sources... one was he throughly annoyed that he had to walk all the way across skyrim for the second time in the last two weeks, but being in the cistern was one of the most emotionally painful things he's forced to do these days... he loved the guild, he loved Karliah and Brynjolf with all his heart, but that love was what made the dragons taunts so horrible, the thought of him hurting any of his guild mates made his stomach twist and turn in the most uncomfortable way

They walked out of the gates and started down the road, on their first journey together he never seemed to get tired, even when they had fought through a cave of dragur and then had to walk miles and miles he never slowed down, but right now he was slowing down... his shoulders were slumped slightly and he featured bags under his eyes "when's the last time you slept?"

He looked towards her, he was silent for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders "technically 9 days, though I took a very short power nap"

She scoffed and then shook her head before grabbing his arm "we're not walking all the way there then, or to the next town..."

"I can't go back to the guild right now..." he said with a hint of desperation in his voice 

"Why not? Everyone there seemed happy to see you" Serana crossed her arms and looked him in the eyes "dragonborn or not you can't run yourself ragged" she was sounding way too much like an angry mother (or to him an angry Karliah) right now but she just decided to roll with it, for his sake 

He looked her in the eyes, his bright blues held an intense look that only grew when she mentioned dragons "just... trust me, it's best that I keep my distance with the guild for now"

"I don't understand, their your frie-" he cut her off with pleading eyes 

"Please Serana, just trust me, your the only person I can be around right now"

That left her with plenty of questions... she didn't want to give in but his voice sounded desperate for the first time, she nodded her head "fine, but we're taking a carriage so that you can at least get some kind of sleep" 

He sighed but reluctantly nodded his head "fine, we'll take a carriage to iverstead, I'll nap on the way there, we'll see how everything is once we get there, then we can make another stop at whiterun if your... hungry by then"

She slowly nodded her head before walking back towards riften "good, when we get there your gonna eat something too... you look skinnier then the last time I saw you" she said letting her eyes travel him as he walked next to her 

The feeling of her eyes on him... was one of the most odd feelings he'd ever experienced, it wasn't a bad feeling "I'm fine Serana, but I'll concede to you this time"

She smiled at that and lifted her eyes back up to his face "good thrall"

He goraned out into the air and rolled his eyes "don't ruin it"

The carriage driver was a little reluctant to leave so late at night but when Fynrir flashed him a bag of septims so full that several actually fell out, he changed his mind and they were on the road to iverstead 

He sat across from her in the carriage pulled off the chest peice to his armour leaving only a simple black tunic to keep his torso protected from the elements

Fynrir wrapped the cape around the chest peice and laid it down under his head for a make shift pillow, Serana watched in amusement "is that what the cape is for?"

He kept his eyes closed but his mouth twitched upwards "that and warmth"

"I thought it was to make you look like a noble hero" she said leaning forward a bit and leaning her chin on her hand, she kept her eyes on him... with his eyes closed like this it gave her a good opportunity to just watch him

"That would work if my actual armour was less, dark and foreboding" he explained before yawning "and I'm not a hero"

She giggled again "I think it completes your dark and brooding personality" she wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that he was a hero for everything he'd done and is doing... but she kept those thoughts to herself, if she started ranting about how wrong he was then the breton would likely never get any sleep 

He opened his eyes and looked at her with furrowed eyebrows "I dont have a dark personality..."

She looked at him with a deadpan expression, just watching him for several moments, silently wondering if he was joking "right... just give me a book or something so I can actually let you sleep" 

He mumbled something under his breath before reaching into his bag and pulling out a purple book and pushing it into her waiting hands "nightingales, fact or fiction?" She read off the title before looking at him unamused "your hilarious"

The breton simply waved her off before covering his eyes with his forearm and trying to sleep

"The ride to iverstead should take about 12 hours" the carriage driver said back to her, his voice sounded amused after listening to their momentary banter 

The vampress simply nodded her head and stuck her nose in the book, it was interesting to learn just how long the nightingales were considered only a myth, even after she went underground 

Interesting enough that she finished the whole book in just a few hours, she put the book down neatly next to her, part of her wanted to put it in his small side pouch for him but it was tucked under his cape and too close to his head 

Serana looked up from the nightingale and to the trees around her, it wasnt easy to see since dusk had finally come and clouded some of the trees In darkness 

She was disappointed that she hadn't been given a proper opportunity to observe this part of skyrim, when she had come to fort dawngaurd she was in such a rush to meet back up with Fynrir that she didnt give herself time to really admire the forest around her 

And now here in the dark she was once again robbed of the opportunity to get a good look at her surroundings, she had a small glimpse when she walked from the fort hack to riften... but that was surely just a peak into how beautiful the rift actually was 

She huffed a bit and leaned back on the carriage, she crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Fynrir with a mockingly scornful look, she wasnt actually mad at him for sleeping of course, but it helped her be less bored to be fake mad at him 

It helped some and as the hours went by the carriage driver was nice enough to tell her a few stories he'd seen while on the road to help quil her intense boredom

-

Just as the town was coming into view Fynrir shot up like a arrow released from its string and began scanning the skies "what is it?" Serana asked looking around with him, his body language was tense and his eyes were focused on the sky

Fynrir didnt answer the question, he quickly stood up and slid his armour back on, his fingers worked the latches and buckled into place with expert fingers and practiced movement "stay back here and keep your head down" he said to the driver before jumping off the back of the carriage, the vampress followed him down and kept pace with him as he began jogging towards the town 

"Fynrir what's going on?!" again the question was ignored as he broke out into a full blown sprint towards the town, faster then any human was capable of 

She was pleased to find that she was actually faster then him but that feeling was quelled by her growing anxiety, she'd never seen him like this before, he almost looked nervous 

They ran across the large stone bridge that led to the town and past the inn near the front, the path led them to the more open area near the center of town, Fynrir stopped dead in his tracks and looked up towards the sky, once again she asked "what's the matter?"

He kept his eyes in the skies, she could hear his heart racing in his chest, his back was straight and his body language was screaming "danger" his hands were clinching and unclinching at his his sides in a fast rapid motion 

She opened her mouth once more but quickly shut it... a mighty roar erupted from the sky coming from around the mountain

Seranas own heart again beating faster, the sound of wings flapping in her ear grew louder... coming from the mountain, a dragon began descending towards the town


	6. Chapter 6

The dragon grew closer to the town letting Serana get a better look, its armour like scales were an assortment of dark orange and bright red colors, it was bigger then she expected it to be, Serana felt the panic rising in her throat, she could hear Fynrir talking but couldn't comprehend the words as her heart pounded in her ears

A guard running past her and into the inn made her mind snap back into action, her and Fynrir were the only two still standing on the roads "when you hit it with Ice spear try to aim in between the scales" Fynrir instructed her, his eyes remained forward watching the beast fly closer "when you cast thunderbolt aim lower towards the stomach"

She took a deep breath, Serana had trouble getting the words out at first "I... ok I will" 

Fynrir nodded, he could tell she was terrified, she had every right to be "if it gets too close to you just use your dagger and go for the eyes" 

She took another deep breath and flexed the magicka through out her body letting the feeling of her own power build her confidence before nodding "right, got it"

Fynrir himself took another deep breath before he began walking towards the dragon as it grew closer and closer, when he saw the look on her face he had almost told her to run and get inside... but she needed to experience this, because if they were going to continue traveling together (though he wouldn't say it out loud, he hoped they would) then it was not going to be the last time they encounter a dragon 

He was confident that he could defeat the beast as he had many times before but the small uncertainty was still there, especially for an older dragon like this one... 

In one swift movement the dragon landed in front of Fynrir, shaking the earth under its weight, the beast pulled its massive head back before throwing it forward and trying to bite straight through the nightingale, the beasts movements were much quicker then anything its size should have the right to

But Fynrir moved faster, as if he could read the dragons movements, the breton slipped to the side dodging the bite, there was no grace in Fynrirs movements... just pure speed and gritty ferocity, with lightning like speed and precision he hit the beast with a hard back kick that sent its head flying again 

Its body followed suit but its eyes were still present... and it was swinging its head back at Fynrir like a battering ram, Serana spotted her moment and shot a razor sharp spear of ice right between the scales of it its mid section just as Fynrir instructed 

The depth of her spear in its belly stopped its movements entirely before the beast let out an ear shattering roar of pain and blood began pouring out of the wound, Fynrir used the distraction to his full advantage and jumped through the air and to the back side of the dovah 

The nightingale grabbed its tail and let out a loud grunt as he yanked backwards pulling the dragon off it's back legs and onto its ass, its legs were stuck underneath it in a very uncomfortable looking position, it struggled to pull its tail from Fynrirs grasp as he held it down

Serana conjured a powerful storm of lightning and ice into both hands before blasting the beast, Its whole body slid across the ground from the impact of her spell and let out another roar of pain as chunks of hail slammed into its body and lightning struck its scales leaving burn Mark's on some and fully burning others away

Fynrir held the dragon in place by the tail as the magic did its work, the spell was impressive, he'd never seen any one cast two elements at once and have them work together in unison... she didnt even look worn out from it 

He heard the dragon roar once again and suddenly he was lifted off his feet by the tail and flung away and into the air, he hit a large stack of logs hard and felt his hip scream in pain 

Serana watched him land and felt her heart beating faster, if he had been anyone else she would be sure that he was dead... she was dragged out of her thoughts by heavy stomping coming towards her 

The vampress turned her head and saw the dragon crawling at her with an angry scowl plastered on its face, her first instinct was to run... but she fought against that urge and stood her ground continously hurling lighting and ice at it

Serana was not a coward and she would not run away from this, while she knew she didn't hit as hard as Fynrir she was still a pure blooded ancient vampire, she was still a master of the arcane arts and more then proficient in her use of the dagger

And now that she got a feel of what the dragon was capable of, she was confident that she could walk out of this with her life 

She growled and ran towards the beast meeting it half way, she slid under the first attempted bite and slashed at its neck leaving a painful but other wise ineffective cut, Serana rolled to the side of the next bite and shot it in the neck point blank with ice spear, more blood began pouring out of the wound

Dodging the monster was not as difficult as she thought it would be, it wasnt easy but its movements were clear to see as the back and forth went on, unlike Fynrir she moved and dodged with a grace that came naturally 

She jumped over another attempted bite and slammed her dagger into the beasts head, it went in deep and dug into its skull... unfortunately it didnt seem to reach the brain as it roared in pain 

The dragon flung her away with its head, the throw was much less forceful then the one Fynrir suffered and she landed on her feet with ease 

It pulled its head back once again but this time it was different, instead of its neck going down as it did with the other attempted bites... it went up 

It sprang its head forward again and opened its mouth, words came out next, words that she couldn't even hope to comprehend then there was flames coming derictly at her... flames hotter then she had ever felt before 

The vampress dropped down and dodged the fire on pure luck

The bite that was coming next however would require much more skill or luck then she had to offer right now

Suddenly Fynrir dropped down in front of the dragon and caught a tooth in each hand, one had was holding a top tooth and the other a bottom 

With pure brute strength the dragonborn stopped the beasts head mid strike and held its jaw open 

Fire began filling its throat once again but Serana jumped to her feet and shot a powerful ice storm right down its gullet cooling the heat before it could build up

The dragon tried to yank its head away as a deep cold pain settled in its body 

The nightingale forces its mouth shut and pulled its massive mug towards the ground before jumping onto its head, he yanked the dagger out and threw it to its owner before jumping 20 feet into the air derictly over the beasts head 

Serana caught the blade in her hand and spun around stabbing the dragon derictly in the eye before jumping back a few feet 

Fynrir brought down his fist putting every once of strength his body could muster into the blow 

The bone crunching sound that came from the dragons head was sickening... but a sound that made there victory clear to Serana 

The breton suddenly jumped off the dragons head and landed next to her in a crouch "I didn't-" she stopped talking when his head snapped to her... his eyes had changed 

They were no longer the light blue she had grown use to... instead they were a bright yellow and his pupils had morphed from normal circles to long slits, his face was contorted with anger but the second his eyes landed on her it began to soften and relax 

He slowly stood and took a deep breath closing his eyes, she opened her mouth to speak but quickly shut it once again as the dragon began disintegrating next to them

From the ashes came a great wave of energy and magicka, like a beautiful light show it lifted into the air before moving over and spinning around the man in front of her before slowly dissolving into his body 

"Your absorbing its soul..." 

Fynrir took another deep breath letting the soul mend with his own, before falling onto his back and groaning in pain, his adrenaline had managed to cover up the pain in his hip and back but now that rush was fading and leaving behind the deep body pain from his impromptu, forceful hug with a giant stack of logs 

Serana was at his side in an instant and got on her knees next to him, the worry was clear on her expression as her eyes examined his body for any obvious injuries "are you ok?" 

His eyes glanced to her, they had changed back to normal now "yeah... I will be" he said before rolling onto his stomach and painfully pushing himself to his feet, the vampress grabbed his arm softly and helped him up 

The townspeople came out of their houses now, men, women and children all gathered around the pair clapping their hands 

"Dragonborn!" A woman called out to them as the other folk began praising the pair 

"Heros!" They called out 

Serana smiled and felt her cheeks heat up slightly from the praise, it was new to have people gathering around to sing her praises instead of calling for her demise like all other vampires 

She turned to look at Fynrir, he was smiling a small smile and politely addressed the crowd, he even ruffled the hair of several children, but none of them could see what she was seeing 

Somewhere deep under all the appreciation there was something eating at him... just like Karliah had said 

After a bit of time the guards managed to get the townsfolk to settle their praises and tried to get Fynrir some medical attention... he politely refused insisting that sleep would be plenty fine... Serana was still trying to figure out what was bothering him so bad 

The pair walked over to the local inn, his limp was more exaggerated now and each step was clearly hurting him 

He got them a two bed and both were pleased to find that it was on the house... probably because they had just saved the entire town from being turned to dust 

They walked into the room and shut the door, she closed the door and turned towards her companion... he was peeling his chest piece of once again, he laid it on the small side table and plopped down on the bed groaning in pain as he kicked his boots off

She sat down on the bed across from his just watching him... 

Fynrir glanced at her, she'd been staring at him since he killed the dragon, it was almost creepy but understandable, after all she had just witnessed him literally devour a dragon soul

He slipped his gloves off and laid them on the table as well before looking at her again and locking his gaze on hers, he didn't exactly know what to say in this situation... on one hand the dragonborn didnt really wanna talk about being, well dragonborn 

On the other hand he knew that the number one thing they had in common was innate curiosity... him because hes a breton and her because she's a mage and spent her life locked in a castle or underground 

Serana broke the slowly building tension "are we gonna have to stay here a few days?"

Fynrir grabbed the hem of his tunic and pulled it up over his head before dropping it on the bed next to him "no, I recover pretty fast, i should be fine tomorrow if i sleep through the night" he was pleasantly surprised that she hadn't asked about anything dragon related 

Her eyes traveled down on instinct and gave his body a quick observation, his side was forming a large bruise already from the impact, but that wasnt what caught her eyes 

His body was not what she thought it would be sure even with his armour on he looked skinny, but due to his physical strength she thought that underneath that armour would be a fit firm body brimming with lean muscle, but it wasn't 

He wasnt fat in anyway... and nor was he so skinny that it was concerning, he was thin but had just enough muscle on his body to keep from looking lanky and enough fat to keep from looking like he was carved out of stone, he had some definition in his chest but his belly looked flat and almost smooth

It was a little surprising that he had so much power wrapped up In his body, then again he did have the soul and blood of a dragon 

His skin was pale but not a delicate porcelain color like her own, he actually looked like he just didn't get enough sun

His body was littered with a variety of scars, burns, cuts, stab wounds, puncture marks he had them all... but the one that caught her eye was the large one going from his left shoulder to his right hip

Fynrir grunted as he moved and laid down on his back, Serana blushed a bit when she realized she had been staring for far too long, she cleared her throat and then laid back on her bed as well 

The silence between them wasnt an uncomfortable or awkward one, however she felt a need to hear his voice "your sure your gonna be ok?"

"I've been through worse and walked away, I promise I'll be alright in the morning" his voice was a little more horse then usual

She lightly chewed her lip "I'll be honest with you Fynrir, fighting that dragon was terrifying" she said with a short half giggle

The breton grunted out a short but painful chuckle "yeah, you handled it well though Serana, you should be proud" he explained looking towards her "you should also get used to it"

The vampress turned towards him meeting his gaze "why?"

"Because... dragons dont really like me, they can't comprehend how the soul of a dragon can be contained in the body of a man" Fynrir explained rubbing his hip as he spoke "they consider me an insult to their race"

Serana kept her eyes on him for a moment thinking over what he said, her father had always told her that lesser vampires were to be treated as such she was ashamedto admit she always listened "I'm sorry, that sounds terrible Fynrir"

He shook his head at her and shrugged, he spoke in spiteful venom filled voice "I dont like them all that much either, they kill, burn and purge as they see fit, they see themselves as better then basically anything else that breaths... then as soon as they discover that I'm dragonborn they want to "prove that their Thu'um is stronger then mine" without taking into account that I killed fucking Alduin and they dont really stand a chance" She let him rant and kept her eyes on his face as he turned to look up at ceiling, his voice had grown increasingly frustrated and when he mentioned the world eater his finger moved up and traced the scar going through his eye

The vampress let his last statement linger in the air, there was a lot to unravel about everything he just told her, though it did leave her with one answer, Alduin was in fact dead, but it left her with more questions as well... hopefully she'd have the answer to them at some point but for now this situation called for a small subject change, he was agitated and injured... she could help with his injury but she could at least sooth his mind some "a Thu'um is a shout right?"

He nodded his head and looked back at her, his expression softened a bit as if he was silently thanking her "yes, though it has more then one definition, almost every book you could read about the Dov or Dovahkiin will tell you that our Thu'um is our shout which is true, but when another dragon questions the strength of your Thu'um it is also questioning the strength of you soul and blood... which for most dragons is the worst insult and its usually evolves into a fight from there"

He for once found talking about dragons easy, the reason he never talked about it with anyone else was because every time he did the dragon in his head used the opportunity to mess with him, whether it be whispering about killing whoever he was speaking to or telling him that the more he spoke of the dov the more control he lost... but with her, the whispering wasnt there at all

"What about my Thu'um? Is it strong?" She asked with a beautifully playful smile on her lips 

Fynrir felt his own lips turn into a small smile "considering the way you handled that thing, I'd say your Thu'um is very strong Serana"


	7. Chapter 7

Fynrir wasnt lying when he told her that he would be recovered by morning time, he slept for at least 12 hours again but he well deserved it, his limp had reduced back to its normal state and he no longer looked like he was in pain with every step 

They were making their way around the mountain, their plan was to meet up with another carriage driver at whiterun and hopefully he'd be able to take them to solitude... the walk from there to dragons bridge should only take an hour or two

This was Serena's least favorite place in skyrim right now... mostly because if this mountain wasnt here then the walk to white run would be almost a day shorter

She may hate this mountain right now but she would never deny its beauty, she found the snow of skyrim beautiful, whether it be the snow of the pale and the snow on their path now... the way it contrasted with the dark stone of the mountains almost entranced her... it was things like this that made her want to get out and explore so bad 

The walk so far hadn't been silent but the conversation was light and mostly about the scenery which in her opinion wasnt a bad thing, on their first journey together the breton only really spoke when Something of importance came up, but small talk was cut to a minimum

Now on this part of their quest he seemed much more comfortable and small talk was actually a thing instead of only having a few meaningful conversations and calling it a road trip 

The vampress turned her head to face him as they walked, usually she would would just watch him out of the corner of her eye, but it being morning meant she was wearing her hood, so peripheral vision was not currently a thing for her "so... being a nightingale, does that mean you worship nocturnal?"

Fynrir looked at her and pondered her question for a moment, his hood was down and she was subtly jealous (not that she mentioned it) "no, my relationship with nocturnal is less about worship and more about business"

She leaned her head to the side in the curious nature that looked way too cute to be fair "what do you mean?"

The nightingale kept his eyes on her "when most people make deals with other daedra that daedra becomes the centerpiece of their religion, they do things like make shrines and try to obtain anything that has something to do with the daedric lord"

She nodded her head in understanding "my parents were devout worshippers of molag bal... and they kind of dragged me along for the ride" Serana wrapped her arms around her torso... for a second it got hard to even look at Fynrir but she kept her eyes on his and felt her breath hitch in her throat as a look of understanding crossed through his eyes 

She felt the tension building up between them "well with nocturnal she doesn't want anything like that" Serana let out a breath of relief when he kept the subject on the queen of murk

The breton continued, he decided then and there that unless it was absolutely necessary he would never bring up the lord of domination again, he didnt know much about bal or how people worship him... but if his other name was anything to go by... he didn't want to know "when I became a nightingale I devoted my soul to her, once I die I'll be brought to the ever gloom to serve under her for all eternity"

"What did she give you in return? Every daedra gives their followers something" Serana explained before letting her arms fall back to her sides, the tension was gone now and Serana felt her body relaxing again 

"The night mistress doesn't give an item, when I devoted my soul to her she didnt give me a dagger, or any kind of object" Fynrir ran his fingers though his hair "she only offered me her influence" 

"Influence? What kind of influence?" Her voice had even returned to normal now and her curiosity was back in full spring

"In return for my soul nocturnal influences my luck, lock picks will last longer then they should, nobles will turn their head away from their pockets in just the right moment, clouds will cover the moonlight and keep it from exposing me... things like that" the nightingale explained with a small smile on his face 

Serana thought over his words and slowly smiled as well "so in return for your post life services nocturnal helps you get rich?"

"Precisely, also it is still my job to protect the ebomere and the skeleton key from those who may wanna steal it but barely anyone actually knows about it" 

She didnt know what this skeleton key was but it sounded important "that's... really cool, I always read that nocturnal was one of the "good daedra" and she sounds a lot better then most of them" the vampress giggled slightly 

Fynrir snorted a bit and looked towards the road "well she's hasn't ever tried to take over the world and she doesn't kill, torture, or maim anyone on a regular basis so I would have to agree"

She giggled again and the walk was silent for a moment before Fynrir asked "I don't want to offend, but I just thought of something"

"What is it?"

"Since it seems like were gonna be spending a lot of time together, should I be worried about sanguinare vampiris?" His voice almost sounded nervous, as if he was actually worried he would offend her

She snorted and shook her head "no, with other vampires you would but... I'm different, I have to actively be trying to spread the disease to you"

"May I ask why so?" He turned his head to look at her once again

"I'm a pure blooded vampire Fynrir, pretty much every vampire you've encountered before me was a vampire because of the disease" she explained looking at him 

"So how did you become a vampire then Serana?"

She bit her lip and took a second to think, she didn't really want to explain that... but in reality it was only fair that he get to know a little more about her as well, she had spent most of their relationship bombarding him with questions so far "well to explain that we have to go all the way back to the beginning, do you know where vampirism came from?"

"I imagine it had something to do with a daedra"

"Exactly, the first vampire came from molag bal" Fynrirs face shifted slightly to a scowl "she was not... a willing subject but she was still the first, the lord of lies is a powerful daedric lord and his will is made reality, for those he finds worthy he will bestow the gift" her arms came up and wrapped themselves around her torso "like I said, me and my family worshiped him I guess he found me powerful enough because i... caught his attention... the ceremony was, degrading... but I came out of it a pure blooded vampire, a daughter of coldharbor" there at the end her voice sounded prideful to the naked ear but he could hear deeper, these was a sadness in her tone 

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up" Fynrir said looking away from her, his fist clinched at his side and any fear he had of Harkon vanished as the dragonborn thought of every way he could hurt the vampire lord...

"Don't be, I think it's just what people do when they give themselves to a daedric lord" the vampress said slowly unraveling her arms and subtly trying to defuse his sudden tension "how I became a vampire is a sensitive subject, but currently being one is not"

"Alright, can you... transform? the way your father can?" He asked pushing down his bodies urge to shutter at the memory and suddenly the fear of Harkon was back

"I... dont know actually, I dont think I can and i never saw my mother do it either" she explained thinking "I've never read about other daughters of coldharbor being able to, I'm not even sure why my father can honestly, it's probably because he offered me and my mother to molag bal though" she was half trying to explain it to him and half trying to explain it to herself at this point

He nodded his head, he wanted to ask her opinion on just how difficult it was gonna be to defeat her father... but that felt inappropriate at the moment and Fynrir had asked her plenty of questions already "I've been thinking about our plan" 

"What do you mean?"

"If we get a carriage, the ride from whiterun to solitude should take about 6 days and we'll have to stop every night, but, if we rest at whiterun for a few hours and then just walk all the way there without stopping, it should only take 5 days if we walk fast enough" he explained

"Can you go that long without sleeping? It would definitely be a problem if you passed out on me" she giggled a bit "I'd have to leave you in a ditch cause I'm not carrying you"

Fynrir snorted and shook his head "I can go about six days without sleep before my body starts failing on me" he explained "it's another perk of being dragonborn, plus having freshly absorbed a soul like will keep me going for a while"

She leaned her head to the side in questioning, she didn't even have to ask "it sustains me in a way, whenever I absorb a soul it's almost like I just slept for a whole day and ate a weeks worth of meals, I dont even really need to eat anything or sleep for almost a week considering how much rest I got yesterday"

She laughed at that "well you did sleep for 12 hours, then woke up long enough to kill a dragon and sleep for 12 more hours" she teased lightly pushing his shoulder 

He... laughed at that, it wasnt a long laugh but it was more then a chuckle and certainly more then a snort, it was a real laugh 

When the noise reached her ears Serana felt a warmth bloom in her chest that she didn't fully understand and a bright smile spread across her lips 

-

By the time they made it around the mountain it took a little more then two days to walk to whiterun, and luckily it went by faster then either of them thought it would, or maybe it just felt that way considering the walk was filled with playful teasing on Seranas part and casual (but humorous) dismissals on his 

They walked up to the gates and a guard quickly bowed his head "my thane! It's good too see you!" 

Seranas eyes snapped towards him wide with shock, Fynrir nodded his head at the guard "it's good to see you too Thorik, I trust your children are doing well?"

The guard nodded once again "they are sir, please enjoy your stay"

The dragonborn nodded and led Serana through the gate and into the city "your a thane?"

Fynrir simply nodded his head and kept walking through the city, he smiled and nodded at the black smith as they went over the small bridge

"Do you spend a lot of time here or something?" 

"I actually live here, well I used to anyway" he explained nonchalantly... as if it wasnt that big of a deal to own two houses in two major cities 

"Wow... your just full of surprises" Serana said as he walked up to a decent sized house and knocked on the door 

"I'm what they call a closed book, lady Serana" he said with a chuckle, every time he called her that his voice changed slightly and he added a more breton fling to his tone 

The vampress groaned at the nickname and then giggled softly "you gonna surprise me with a family too?"

He snorted and then shook his head as the door swung open, a hardy nord woman stood there clad in heavy steel armour with a shield to match, the sword on her hip was a light green metal... a glass sword, which to Serana knowledge was not easy to come by, the woman quickly bowed "It's good to see you thane!"

Fynrir smiled and lightly shook his head "how many times do I have to tell you not to bow like that lydia? This is Serana" he walked in past lydia and looked around the front room

The vampress nodded at the woman as she stepped aside letting Fynrir in, lydia inclined her head in a deep nod and placed her hand on her chest "it's nice to meet you my lady"

Serana held back her laughter at the proper way lydia addressed her, it almost reminded her of the helpless little lackeys that constantly tried to get on her fathers good side by getting in her good side (though Lydia's demeanor commanded more respect then that) "it's good to meet you too"

Fynrir tapped lydia on the shoulder and handed her a large coin bag "go down to the bannered mare and have some mead lydia, me and Serana need to speak alone"

The nord woman simply nodded her head in understanding and took the coin purse before leaving without a word 

"What do we need to talk about?" Serana asked crossing her arms, her body tensed slightly

"Oh nothing, I just like giving her time to go do as she pleases and she only does that when I give her an actual reason Instead of just saying "you deserve it" cause that's not good enough for her" he explained running his fingers through his hair, he had some found memories of trying to get lydia to lighten up some... none of his attempts were successful 

"Oh ok" she walked over and sat down in one of the chairs surrounding the small cooking fire "How did you become a thane here?" her eyes traveled around the room, the house wasnt huge but it was certainly homely... it didnt seem like a bad place to raise a family if he ever made that move with someone... though her traveling friend (could she call him that? She felt like she could) didn't seem like the type to settle down 

He plopped down in the chair next to her leaned back stretching his back and legs, a satisfied groan coming out when his hip popped slightly "I stopped a dragon from burning down the city... it was here that i first discovered i was dragonborn actually"

"Sounds like quite the the tale" she said leaning back with an expecting look on her face, her voice had a curious edge to it

"It was..." he thought for a moment contemplating if he really did wanna tell her the whole story "when I got caught at the border near falkreath they took me to a town called helgen" he couldn't deny her curiosity all the time, even if he may regret this later... even without the dragon barking in his ear, this story always left him more then a little weary 

Serana felt her body tense with anticipation, she was more then excited to finally learn more about the dragon conflict, she had already leaned a bit from some of the court but this was different... this was coming straight from the horses mouth "I was on the chopping block, like they were literally about to cut my head off when a dragon appeared as if out of nowhere... i didn't know it at the time but that dragon was Alduin the world eater, in a way he saved my life actually, everything was chaos after that... I was running all around trying not to get burned alive"

She leaned a little bit closer to him when he mentioned the world eater, his voice was intense and his hands moved with his mouth as he spoke "when I escaped helgen and made my way down to riverwood the smith there asked me to tell the jarl of whiterun to send some troops to help the small town with its defenses... I felt like I was still in shock and I really wanted to Just go back to riften, but I still complied and told balgruuf, once I convinced him that I wasnt crazy, he agreed to send some soldiers" she giggled a bit at the mental image of the ever so serious Fynrir (well he at least wasnt constantly serious anymore) yelling frantically about dragons "I was gonna take a carriage back to riften after that but the jarl called on me for help" 

He ran his fingers through his hair, usually telling the story was a little more stressful by now, but with Serana around it seemed to calm his nerves a bit, it was still triggering some bad memories but it wasn't as intense as the few other times he recounted this tale "the court wizard sent me down into some damn nordic ruin that almost got me killed to get some stone, that even to this day I barely know what happened to it, that was the first time I ever encountered a word wall, I was looking at the carvings and they made absolutely no sense but yet they did... it was like I could feel the word and understand its meaning but I couldn't read it, after that I fought some dragur that was twice my size, once I returned with the stone I was ready to go back to riften and try to regroup my mind, that was fragmented by everything going on and again the jarl called on me for help..."

Serana listened closely and was unconsciously leaning closer, the emotion in his voice and the way he was telling the story had her almost entranced and on her toes 

"A dragon had attacked the western watch tower, and since I was the only person around that had any experience with dragons they thought I would be of help... i was in a way" he shuddered as he remembered his first dragon fight "the fire it breathed was so hot that I though it could burn the world down had it wanted to, it's claws ripped through armour like paper... its voice alone sent shock waves through the lands, theres only been two times in my life since then that I was more scared, and up to that point it was the most scared I'd ever been"

The thought of him being scared was a thought Serana never imagined would cross her mind... Fynrir was so powerful now and had an air of fearlessness surrounding him, it was hard to envision what he would look like as truly scared... even when faced with her father he didn't look that scared 

He rubbed his hair again and looked at her "I did what I could... i did what thieves do best, I stayed back and shot it with arrows... the next thing I knew the dragon was just after me" her hands were gripping the arms of her chair as his voice grew more intense, this was always the worst part of the story "I ran and ran but it caught up to me, it was so heavy when it landed right behind me the force knocked me off my feet, I dont know how I did it at the time, but just as it went to bite me I jumped up and stuck my sword out catching it right in the eye burying my blade to the hilt... and it worked, the dragon died" they both let put a small sigh of relief, Fynrir because telling the story was bringing back more seriously bad memories, and Serana because the way he was telling the story made her feel like she was reading a good book and was reaching the climax 

Fynrir licked his drying lips, his body under his armour felt sweaty "I fell to the ground exhausted... then I wasnt anymore, i felt a rush of energy and power surge through my body like nothing I'd ever felt before... by the time I made it to my feet I had this urge in my chest and all I could think about was the word wall... then I shouted for the very first time, it was the same shout I used on your father actually but at the time it wasnt nearly as powerful, once I managed to break away from the prying guards and started walking back to whiterun, I heard a noise from the sky... booming from the mountain I heard the grey beards call to me, they called me "Dovahkiin" and that's where the dragon conflict really started..."

She took a deep breath and smiled at the breton next to her "that was an amazing story Fynrir... really it was, what happened after that though?" Curiosity was clear in her voice but as the question slipped out she immediately regretted it

Fynrir was looking at the ground, a light film of sweat was shining on his forehead and his eyes looked wet... he looked at her and opened his mouth to start speaking again but the words seemed to get stuck in his throat, his heart was beating too fast and his breath was picking up speed as well, his eyes shifted from her back to the ground 

His mind filled with visions... memories of what he'd been through, all the fear and panic he felt in the fields of whiterun that day... all the fear and pain he felt in the final battle... all of it resurfaced and tried to dig its claws into him, it was so awful, so terrible that he almost wished he was getting a visit from his dragon counterpart other then dealing with all of this once again

Serana watched as his breath grew even faster and more shallow, the sound of wood splitting called her eyes to his hands, he was gripping the arms of the chair so hard that they began cracking under the pressure, guilt built up in her chest and she immediately regretted making him tell her that story... deep down she knew that he was a grown man and made his own decisions, but she still pushed him into this 

the vampress leaned closer to him and placed her hand on his forearm softly, hoping that her touch was enough to calm him, the dragonborns eyes snapped to her as she spoke "it's ok Fynrir... I'm sorry I made you tell me that story, you don't have to keep going" 

His eyes moved from her and began searching around the room, he was in breeze home... he was In his house, he wasn't in the fields with a dragon, he wasn't in sovngaurd... 

He was here in one of his several houses with Serana, his eyes landed on her once again and he took a deep breath, it took minutes, perhaps longer but he regained his composure "sorry... I didn't think that was gonna happen Serana"

She shook her head and slide her hand down so she could softly grip his "I'm the one that should be sorry Fynrir, that wouldn't have happened if I hadn't..."

He cut her off "it's not your fault Serana, I wanted to tell you" he turned his hand and lightly gripped it 

"Has that happened to you before?" She asked leaving her hand in his, their hands fit well together, his fingers weren't as rough as she thought they would be, they were almost soft... her hands were a different story, while many warriors thought their hands tough, they had nothing on a mage who uses the elements to her advantage via her hands

He gripped her hand a little tighter and shrugged his shoulders "I think so, but it's hard to tell what's going on... it's like every bad memory I have in my head comes rushing to the forefront... it's just never really happened in front of someone before"

Serana nodded her head, images of her... rebirth flashed through her mind "I understand that... it may help to talk about it, if you can handle it" she suggested 

Slowly he shook his head "no... no not right now, it's late and we have things to do, you should go out and get... a meal, I'll get some sleep and then we'll start off towards dragons bridge when I wake up" the breton regrettably let go of her hand and stood up running his fingers through his hair 

She looked at him for a moment, just watching him as if she was waiting for something "your ok with that?" 

The breton looked at her and raised his eyebrow "ok with what?" 

"With me just going out into the town and getting a meal" she stood up and crossed her arms 

"Why wouldn't I be? You have to eat, same as everyone else, just please dont kill anyone" Fynrir said as he started taking his armour off

"And you trust me not to do that?"

He stopped what he was doing and stepped a little closer to her "of course I trust you not to do that, you haven't killed anyone since I've known you"

She stared at him then, gazing into his eyes as the word trust rang in her ears and an unfamiliar warmth filled her chest "thank you..."

His eyes remained on her as he nodded his head "you don't have to thank me" a tension filled the air around them, it was a feeling that Fynrir had never felt before, but a feeling he hoped he'd feel again

"I know, I'm just..." she trailed off and slowly looked away from him, her cheeks felt hot and her chest felt tingly 

"It's ok Serana, I understand it takes some getting used to" she didnt need to say the words 

It takes time getting used to someone actually trusting you...

She chewed her lip and slowly nodded her head "right..." she backed away a bit before finally looking at him again "I'm gonna go, and get something... someone" she winced but relaxed again when he snorted and ushered her towards the door 

"Go on, I've gotta bathe before I sleep anyway, I know vampires don't sweat but surprisingly enough dragons do" his expression darkened again but the smile stayed on his face 

The vampress let out a short giggle and then nodded her head and walked out into the night


	8. Chapter 8

"Can I ask you something?" Serana asked, they were about half way to dragons bridge at this point and the walk had been... odd, Fynrir wasnt as talkative as he had been on their previous journey to whiterun, he certainly wasnt being rude and he would speak when spoken to

But he wasnt going out his way to spark up a conversation like he had before and he seemed distracted by something, initially she assumed he was mad at her for pushing him into talking about things he didnt want to talk about... but the way he talked to her after the story and the way he would speak to her now made her think twice, he was dark and broody as always but yet he would still answer her with that little hint of enthusiasm in his voice 

Her second conclusion was that he was still disturbed by his... breakdown in breezehome (she certainly was) but that was just a hypothesis really, and the vampress wasn't sure that she wanted to ask him directly what his problem was, But yet she knew that she had to know, because the last thing Serana wanted was to see him in the state again 

Fynrir looked at her, he pulled his hood into a more comfortable position and nodded his head "of course you can"

She met his eyes and searched through them as if she could pull her answer right out of his gaze "it's gonna be a question you might not want to answer, so please feel free to refuse"

The breton thought for a second, he knew where this was going and almost did refuse... but he'd done that enough with other important (he could consider her important at this point) people in his life, he nodded his head once again "go ahead Serana"

"When you woke me up in that cave and I saw what you could do... i got curious, and I would ask about your powers, but you always got really irritated... then after I found out that your dragonborn and I ask you about that, you get even more irritated, and the other nights... events, made me realize something... you only get so... agitated when talking about something related to dragons, so why do you hate talking about being dragonborn so much?" She asked with subtle nervousness in her voice, she knew this was a sensitive subject now and was clearly trying to be delicate with the way she spoke 

Part of him, a very small portion of his brain wanted to just tell her, to just be completely honest and say "because I have a dragon in my head that constantly tells me to murder every single person who looks my way"

He pushed that small part of his thoughts deep in the recesses of his mind and spoke of the other parts of being dragonborn that he didn't like... the more normal ones that would hopefully keep her from questioning his sanity "because I wasn't meant to be dragonborn Serana, fighting dragon's is horrifying and ever since I became dragonborn it seems like all I do is in one way or another completely horrifying"

"But... you dont think it would be like that for everyone? Anyone would be scared to deal with those things Fynrir" she still sounded nervous but her adorable curiosity was now on full display 

"No, I think it would be just as horrific for anyone, but there are people out there who are far better equipped for it then I am" he explained looking away from her eyes 

"How so?" 

"I'm a thief, just a thief Serana, there had to be some experienced, strong warrior that spent their life fighting the good fight, or some genius mage that spent their life learning about power like this, out there who would have gladly taken this power and used it to protect the innocent... I don't even like fighting normally, let alone dragons that can burn down entire holds" he explained before pushing his hood down and looking at her again "I wasnt made for this, I'm responsible for things that I shouldn't be responsible for... I have this power so that I can protect those who cant protect themselves but to do that I have to do the one thing I've spent my life avoiding, fight, I spent my entire life as a thief, a good one at that and then 20 years In i discover that i was actually put on nirn to be the wall between a returning dragon army and the extinction of men and mer... that's not who I am and it's not who I want to be but the responsibility is pushed on me because no one else can take it"

His voice had grown more stressed the the time he finished speaking and she was a little scared that he was gonna drop down and have another panic attack in front of her, the silence lingered between them for some time before she broke it "I'm sorry Fynrir... I didn't know it was so... bad for you, I'll never bring it up to you again" she couldn't relate to him, because her whole life she'd craved power... and had gotten, he never wanted it and he got it anyway and now had to deal with the burden

The nightingale shook his head, he didnt want her to feel bad about it, it wasnt her fault and like most people it was only natural for her to assume that anyone would love having such tremendous power "don't be sorry... and we can still talk about it, just in moderation"

She smiled at that and nodded her head feeling relived that she could still be her true curious self without turning him into a mess, a comfortable silence came over them, it lasted for some time before Serana finally spoke "I'm glad that you ended up being dragonborn..."

He met her eyes with a furrowed brow "why?"

A sweet smile was still plastered on her face "because you dont want it... there are thousands of people on nirn that would have taken that power and done terrible things with it"

Fynrir watched her for a moment, a conflicted look was clear in his eyes, he opened his mouth but seemed to struggle with the words for a moment "you think I haven't?"

She tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brow 

He looked away from her, the words that came out were so low that any normal person wouldn't have been able to hear them, calling them a whisper was an understatement "I'm a monster Serana"

She wanted, desperately wanted for him to explain why he felt that way, but the conflicted and almost sad look on his face and his slightly slumped shoulders kept her from pushing it any further 

They settled Into a comfortable silence for a long time after that, the sun faded away and night claimed the sky around them letting Serana push her hood down in the same way his still was 

And Fynrir silently thanked all 8 devines...

Her face was stunning in the moonlight, she was always beautiful, but at night she seemed to glow... her delicate porcelain skin (probably the only thing delicate about her) reflected the moonlight and almost lit up the dark surrounding her 

Her eyes were their usual bright glowing amber but in the dark they were almost addicting, her dark velvet hair begged to be stroked and the breton had to actively clinch his fist to avoid reaching out and rubbing her wavy locks that flowed down to her pale smooth neck that was covered by her choker like necklace 

Her lips were full and a beautiful pink color, they hid her perfect straight, white teeth that he had only seen a few times but couldn't help to admire, even though her fangs were on display as well it wasn't all that off putting... quite the opposite in some ways 

He blushed and shook those thoughts from his head before letting his eyes fall on the road and tried to return his focus to their original goal

-

Their first steps into the town of dragons bridge were steps fill with joy and relief... the four day walk affected Fynrir more then he let on and if they hadn't been on such a time crunch Serana would have mentioned it and suggested they stop and rest, his shoulders were slumping, he was breathing with an open mouth, his limp was starting to worsen and for the second time he began to look worn out to the vampress, but he was still capable enough and keeping up with her the whole time 

Serana was getting hungrier and hungrier, the meal she had at white run had been filling and held her over most of the journey, but as the sun began to rise on the fourth day her stomach began rumbling... And Fynrirs blood was smelling better and better by the second, her mind was plagued with images of her dragging her fangs across his pale skin before digging her teeth into his vain and sating her hunger... it nauseated her, because she never wanted to do that to the nightingale, and she never would 

Fynrir wasted no time and walked over to the first guard he saw, his gravelly voice was polite and business like with a small hint of desperation and exhaustion "excuse me, have you seen an imperial scholar come through here? Wears a dark grey robe and calls himself a moth priest?"

The guard looked at Fynrir, Serana couldn't see his eyes but the mans body language held some suspicion, after a moments he slowly nodded his head "I did in fact, old man had a big band of bodyguards with him, seemed important" 

"Given that you talking about him In a past tense I take it he's not here anymore?" Serana asked stepping up next to Fynrir, her voice sounded impatient... almost like a teenage girl who wasnt getting her way 

The imperial shook his head "Afraid not ma'am, he went south over the dragon bridge not too long, if you walk fast enough you should be able to catch up to him" 

With downcast heads the pair began marching towards the bridge 

Serana let out a deep sigh "why can't it ever be easy...?" She asked looking up at the sky as they walked over the famous bridge

The breton let out an irritated grunt and shrugged his shoulders "through out all of my adventures in skyrim, from the dragon conflict to my time with the guild, I've learned that nothing is ever easy in this frozen fucking wasteland" Fynrir grumbled out 

She half wanted to poke fun at him for being so grumpy but decided it against it, the vampress wasnt really in the mood herself honestly 

The walk was silent with an irritated tension that neither dericted at the other, the pair were both equally pissed off that their moment of relief was just that, a moment 

Suddenly Serana stopped and began smelling the air "we might have an issue"

"What is it?" He stopped and looked back at her with a furrowed brow, just one more problem to add to the list 

"I smell blood, up the road... we need to go" without another word she ran past him in a sprint 

He ran after her not a second after she passed him "mara she's fast" he whispered to himself as he watched her vampiric speed at work... he could keep up with her but she would definitely best him in a foot race 

As they ran Serana slowed down some letting him catch up, in case they were running into a fight, Fynrir saw the carrige first and sped up as much as he could, she followed suit and made it to the scene before he did... it was a massacre 

At least 10 imperial soldiers were dead and ripped apart in front of them, blood and limbs were strewn across the road... "vampires" Serana whispered as she crouched down next to a body and moved the unfortunate mans head slightly revealing two puncture wounds on his neck 

The breton growled under his breath, he didnt have a particular problem with vampires as a whole, Serana was a good reminder that there was probably plenty of good vampires out there, but he held a disdain for anyone, vampires or not, who killed for pleasure like this, these blood suckers didnt just kill the soilders... they tore them to pieces and threw their remains aside like they were trash, these men could have had families, but that didnt matter to them 

Fynrir walked a few more feet down the road "well... at least one of these sick fucks got what was coming to her" he leaned down next to the dead vampire, a redgaurd woman, had a large stab wound in her chest, he turned her sligtly and picked up the piece of paper that was halfway tucked under her arm

Serana walked up behind him and let out a small sigh when she saw the body, she knew this vampire... and knew that Fynrir was right, she just wasnt expecting to see someone she actually knew 

The vampires name was Chora... and Chora was bad, even for usual vampire standards, she wasnt like Harkon but she was still known around the castle as a heartless and brutal killer, most of the court found this trait admirable and many had made bids for her to be their personal cabinet... but Orthjolf (another twisted and demented soul) kept her looked tight as his personal adviser 

Serana herself found it unnecessary... and in many ways sickening

Now that wasnt to say Serana wasn't a killer, she'd killed many and enjoyed herself while doing it, depending on the occasion, but Chora, like many other vampires went out of their way to kill people 

There was a difference between killing vampire hunters or lowly bandits and killing the innocent mother of an innocent child...

If Serana walked into a town as hungry as she could possibly be, not a single person would loose their lives unless she was left with no other choice, If Chora walked into a town with a full belly, that town would be down a whole family by the time she left, simply because she enjoyed it 

Vampires like her father and Chora often left Serana wondering what it was about vampirism that so often turned people into sick disgusting creatures that enjoyed harming others so much 

She understood and sympathized with those that couldn't control the hunger, but she would never understand those who kill simply for the joy of killing... 

Fynrir stood back up and looked at the vampress when he heard her sigh, he felt a little bad for saying something like that in front of her but deep down he knew he was right "sorry... did you know her?"

Serana nodded her head and the breton mentally kicked himself, she looked up from the dead body and at him "I didn't know her well, but i knew her enough to know that she deserved what she got like you said... I just wasn't..." she paused for a second and stepped a little bit closer to him "I wasn't expecting to see someone from the court out here I guess... that's probably bad"

He nodded his head keep his eyes on hers, the look on her face said something more then she was admitting "yeah it is" he kept it at that and instead of questioning her further the nightingale brought his hand up and softly grabbed hers hoping to provide some kind of comfort, words of comfort wouldn't be very useful in this situation, because he didnt know what was bothering her and didnt know what he should say

A small smile spread across her lips and she softly squeezed his hand, letting him know she appreciated the reassuring gesture (she also really really liked holding his hand) "so what does that note say?"

Fynrir unfolded the note and held it in between them so they could both read it "They took the priest to a place called Forebears hold out, heard of it?" He asked putting the note in one of his pouches and reluctantly released her hand 

She put her finger on her chin and thought for a moment before giving a curt nod "yeah it's not too far, I've never been in there though so I dont have any clue what were walking into" she explained 

Fynrir snorted and sighed "great... my favorite way to enter a fight" he said with a sarcastic but playful edge to his voice 

Her face lit up sligtly as his mood shifted back into dry humor instead of constant intense brood, she giggled a bit and then nod in the direction on the road "let's get going, they wont kill the moth priest but they could have something worse planned" his mood improving quickly had the affect of improving her mood as well

"You think you could give me some kind of insight into what we might be walking into strategy wise? Since these are your fathers subjects after all" Fynrir asked a few minutes into the walk 

Serana shrugged her shoulders "heavy resistance, that girl wasnt someone from his actual court but the man who wrote that note, Mulkas" her expression visibly soured "is from the court, so expect a lot of fighting, lesser vampires, lots of thralls, that sort of thing" 

"Any chance to save the thralls?" He asked crossing his arms as he thought about the upcoming fight 

She shook her head "unfortunately no, there are two types of thralls, cattle and battle" he cringed a bit at the rhyme "the thralls here will be battle, which are just dead people walking they aren't even capable of thought... and they aren't that strong but the only way to stop them is to kill them"

The nightingale nodded his head, the thought of killing someone still strained his mind to an extant but he knew that in this situation it was un fortunately, completely necessary "how about everyone else?" 

"They'll be powerful, if malkus sent the note then hes likely the leader but he's not really in the same league as me if I can toot my own horn" she explained with a small smirk 

He snorted a bit and looked at her, the smug look on her face was oddly suiting "what about the rest of the court? They all no match for you either?"

"Orthjolf and Vingalmo are probably in the same class as me but for different reasons, Orthjolf might be able to hit as hard as you... maybe" she said in an unsure voice, she was only unsure because she had a small feeling that she hadn't seen the dragonborns full potential yet "but he's pretty slow, Vingalmo is arguably a better mage then me, but physically he's lacking in speed and strength, in fact you almost killed him when you ran out that day" she said with a smile as she thought back on the fond memory of the high elf coughing up blood and demanding he be allowed after Fynrir 

"Oh, that guy, yeah I laid into that one a little more then usual, I was panicking at that point" he admitted and crossed his arms, every time he thought back on that night and the former Harkon took he couldn't help but internally shiver 

Serana leaned her head to the side "you were panicking?" When she looked back on that day all she could see on his face was either that smug look of indifference when talking to her father, or that look of pure anger before hand "you certainly hid it well, I thought you were gonna annihilate the whole court for a second"

He snorted again and shook his head "I dont think I'm that powerful... maybe if your father wasnt there I could deal with the court, but with him and that dremora looking guy together I probably would have gotten killed" he admitted, his arms tightened around his chest but if she saw she didn't mention it "I dont even know if I could take your father one on one..."

Serana watched him for a moment, and slowly, regrettably nodded in agreement "it wont be easy... dealing with him, it wont be easy, he's protected... somehow" she said, her mind shifted to an image of her and Fynrir fighting her father... her arms came up and hugged her torso as every feeling that filled her body conflicted with one and other, her eyes turned towards the road, the thought of battling her own father made her stomach churn

She didn't know if this truly was gonna end in an all out war with her father, but she'd had her suspicions for a long time that in one way or another it was all gonna end with a clash... a part of her was hoping it wouldn't, the small girl that still lived in her and that still loved Harkon didn't what it to come to that 

But the realistic, adult side of her knew that going down the road of stopping Harkon was also going down the road that lead straight to him... she also knew that there were only three people who might have a chance to stop him, one of them was missing and the other two were her and Fynrir

She startled when he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, as if he could read her anguish and wanted nothing more then to pull her away from the dark thoughts "like I said earlier, nothing is ever easy in this frozen fucking wasteland... but together I think we can figure this out whether the scrolls tells us what to do or not" he offered her a small smile after that and slowly let his hand fall off her shoulder, he didn't believe it himself... but she couldn't see that, and he wouldn't let her see it

As Fynrirs words worked their way through Seranas ears and into her brain one emotion soared it's way to the top of her emotional war, fighting through every other terrible feeling and crashing through before it battered all the confusion into submission 

For the first time in a long time... Serana felt hope


	9. Chapter 9

"Who the fuck builds a fortress like this underground?" Fynrir whispered as they stood on the small stone staircase near the entry way, the building in front of them was large, open, and the many torch lights suggested a heavy amount of guards... just like the vampress said, there was Gonna be fighting, hard fighting that may or may not go his way 

A small voice rang in his ear, it was quiet yet it boomed Into his ear drum, derictly from his subconscious "it will go our way... no one can defeat us" 

He shut his eyes for a second and tried to will the voice away, but it only persisted and the breton settled on doing his best to ignore the beast in his mind 

"My father and his acolytes do, clearly" she said in a humorously sarcastic tone, the cave was dreary, dark and wet, the only light source was coming from the torches of the battle thralls ahead that were acting as patrol men 

The nightingale snorted and crouched down observing the area in front of them, the stair case led to the right and down to a bridge only guarded by two death hounds which were easy pickins, then a short path around the outer wall would lead them to the entrance, there was a bright blue light illuminating near the middle of the fort but they needed to get closer to see where it was coming from and what purpose it served "they got any more of these?" He waved his hand out in front of him gesturing to the underground structure 

Serana giggled a sarcastic giggle and nodded her head "definitely, I just dont know how many and I've never been in any of them"

"Great..." he said in his own dry sarcasm (he found that using humor around was a good coping mechanism and he hoped that it would help quill the beasts taunts) before formulating a quick plan "so we should definitely try and remain hidden for the most part, the longer it takes to get messy the less we have to deal with when it does get messy" he explained keeping his eyes on the patrol men, it wasnt much of a plan but then again he couldn't really see ahead of him enough to come up with an actual strategy (not that it was his strong suit in the first place)

"That's what I was thinking, but it wont take them long to notice something's up when we start taking out thralls and the lights go out, so we have take out as many as we can as fast as we can, then once we get closer to the top we just start a full frontal attack" she said as he stood up "hopefully whatever they're doing to the priest isn't too far along"

He looked at her and nodded "that sounds like a good plan, if we spring on them before they notice we should be able to take out a bunch in one sitting, just how strong is that malkus guy?" Fynrir was confident that he was stronger then him, and pretty much everyone in the Volkihar court, Harkon excepted (and maybe that guy in dremora armour) but it never hurt to be safe when going into a battle 

Her nose scrunched up when he said the name "strong but not enough to be a problem, he's probably the weakest of the court" she explained crossing her arms and watching for patterns in patrol movements 

"But hes still on the court... so he's dangerous" Fynrir said pulling his hood up as his memories flashed back to his fight with Lokil... he didn't know if he was on the court... but he had proved to be basically no problem in the first place, he was fast enough to react to one Fynrirs punches but outclassed the rest of the way, he didn't know if this Malkus guy was gonna be the same, he may be no different or he may be the kind of fight that the companions would beg for 

"That he is, but dont worry I've got a bone to pick and a hundred different spells to cast on that bastard" she said with an anger dripped voice, an anger he'd never seen on her before this point, she had her moments of irritation but for the most part he'd never actually seen her mad, mad

Fynrir let his eyes linger on her for a second and all the thoughts of the up coming fight left his mind... she was certainly fired up and looked ready to explode at any minute... it was kinda attractive 

The breton grunted and pulled his mind out of the gutter before nodding ahead "probably a dumb question, but can you quiet cast?"

She looked at him with a blank expression for a moment "that was a dumb question... of course I can" she giggled a bit after the words left her mouth and mocked offense with her expression 

Fynrir snorted again and shrugged with a small smile on his face "the bridge dog is all yours then, I'll take care of the closer one" without waiting for a response he crouched down again and began descending towards the unsuspecting hound

As soon as he crouched there was absolutely no noise coming from him, unless she really focused her enhanced hearing, the she could make out some sounds but not many, her mind momentarily took her back to her conversation with Karliah "hes the best, when he walks hes more silently then most of us while sneaking" the dunmeri woman had told her... Serana had believed her then but actually seeing it for herself made it very real

She quickly cast muffle on herself and then crouched down following after him

The nightingale made it to the death hound quickly, the one weakness every thief shared was dogs... you could train your feet to make no noise, you could get so good at sneaking that the shadows themselves will bend to your will and cloak you in darkness... but you could never get rid of your smell

The hound looked up but Fynrir shot out like a flaming rock from a catapult and grabbed the dogs head, in quick fluid motion he snapped its neck leaving dead and the other dog none the wiser, He rolled backwards and looked at her with a look that screamed "your up"

Serana smirked a bit and moved in towards the bridge, she was quick on her feet despite being crouched, he may be more sneaky then her but there was one thing she had over him... vampires produce no smell to any natural predators, basically only werewolves could smell them (and to mortals they gave off a light sweet scent to help seduce victims) but a regular dog or bear never even got a whiff 

She was able to get right up behind the dog and pat the mutt on it's back, it turned around quickly and was met with an ice spear going right through its nose and killing it instantly 

She turned towards Fynrir who had came up behind her right as she killed the dog "they cant smell me" she quipped 

The breton let out a sarcastic but light hearted snort and shrugged his shoulders, after their little one up game the pair quickly and quietly made there way to the main entrance of the large building 

Fynrir looked in and saw a group of thralls standing completely still around the center fire, he looked up and saw all the torch lights of the patrol men above them (their main goal) on the surrounding wall, there was unfortunately no stair case on the outside, but there were two on the inside, however the fire would give away their position to the ones surrounding it, he lightly grabbed her hand leaned in getting close to her ear in case other vampires were in hearing range "you can turn invisible?"

She nodded her head, he face discolored some when he grabbed her and leaned so close but neither mentioned (or would mention) the small tingley that happened on contact "you have a plan?"

He nodded and pointed toward the right staircase "you go right, I'll go left, I take out the ones on my side, you take out yours and when we meet in the middle we figure out the next best move" once he stopped talking he took a deep breath before whispering with a lowered head "lady nocturnal... I call upon your shadows to cloak me from my enemies"

Then Fynrir was gone... completely gone, she couldn't hear his heartbeat she couldn't see him, the only thing that told her he was still there was the smell of his blood, and even that had grown much more faint... no illusion magic is that strong, perhaps it was a blessing from the queen of murk? Serana would have to ask him later 

Fynrir, now fully hidden in the cloak of nocturnal rounded the corner, the light of the fire had no effect on his invisibility as he walked up the stairs, he surveyed the situation in closer detail now, to his right there were five patrols all facing away from each other to keep their eyes on as much as they could at once, then to his left (the path he needed to take to meet back up with her) there were five more all standing side by side, with more then 5 feet between each of them 

Seranas situation was no different, five to her left covering as much ground as possible, then five in her way of meeting back with the dragonborn 

The breton made quick work of the patrolmen to the right, it was kind of relieving to be able to just... kill people, as awful as that thought made him feel (he knows the thralls are already fully dead and that makes the struggle less) it was a lot easier then having to strangle someone to sleep and hope no one else got alerted in the momentary scuffle 

With five quick neck snaps Fynrir was planning out his next move... 

Instead of snapping necks or choking people, Serana was simply slitting their throats or stabbing them in the skull with her dagger 

The problem both of them were running into with these 10 on the bridge were that they were all looking out in front of them... so they all had each other in their peripheral vision 

Serana couldn't cast spells at this point because the glow of ice or lightning would alert the thralls below and the vampires ahead

So their only options were to just move fast enough and hope that they can kill them all before they could alert anyone, Fynrir thought about using his throw voice shout but wasn't very confident in that strategy... when he first learned it he was obviously very happy, and then he was heard using the shout and was forced to fight on three separate occasions... that had been before he learned how to whisper shouts but that's not the point, he still didnt trust that one 

The next thing Fynrir knew Serana was moving, she kept low but as soon as she got close she moved like lighting, the first thrall got her dagger right through his neck, the second one got his throat ripped out, the third was stabbed in the head, the fourth got his throat slit with her razor like nails and the fifth got his neck snapped 

Fynrir was very impressed by how little noise she made doing all that... maybe in some other life she could have been a great thief or even an assassin (a small part of him would love to see Serana in a dark brotherhood outfit, even though he and the group had their... disputes in the past) but this wasn't a different life 

Fynrirs first got a quick precise elbow in the back of his neck that disconnected his brain stem and killed him almost instantly, the second turned but was caught with a palm strike that literally shattered his face, the third was met with a similar punch, the fourth and fifth however were a combination, he jumped around grabbing the fourth by the back of his head and holding it down in a tight clinch keeping his chin locked down against his chest to keep him from opening his mouth and yelling, then the nightingale shot his foot back in a horse like kick and blasted the fifth derictly under the chin crushing his windpipe and nearly knocking his head off, the fourth was still held in the clinch and met his fate when Fynrir brought his knee derictly into his nose breaking straight through into his skull

They did it quickly, quietly and incredibly effectively, just how Fynrir liked it "good job" he whispered to her as they looked upon their next set of blockades

"You too, thanks" she smiled, the compliment made a comfortable warmth bloom in her chest "what's the next move?"

Fynrir shrugged "we gotta take care of them before we do anything else" he explained motioning to the group around the fire "we could go invisible again and try to move faster?" The plan didnt sound quite so solid this time but it was still a plan, and pretty much the only either could come up with given that had to avoid getting spotted while taking out people who were right next to each around a very light fire... was nearly impossible, even for them 

She nodded her head and they both dropped down, but before either could even take a step they were cut off by the sound of laughter coming from above them in the shadows, opposite from where they had been less then a second ago

The pair both looked up and saw several vampires standing on the overlook with arrogant smirks of their faces as if they caught that rat in the trap perfectly, Serana snarled slightly and called up "your just as snakey as ever Malkus"

The vampire in the middle smirked and shook his head before speaking in a tone laced with arrogance "coming from the lady who just murdered ten good thralls while cloaking herself in darkness, that's not much of an insult" his body language held an air of smugness that surrounded him like a black cloud 

He went to open his mouth to speak once again but Fynrir cut him off "we're not doing that" he paused for a moment and looked the Volkihar vampire derictly in the eyes, these was no fear in either gaze "we're not having a whole conversation before the fight starts, send everything you've got... and send it now" the breton said staring daggers at the man above him 

The dragon chanting grew louder in his ear as it called for the murder of this insistently smug blood sucker, Fynrir growled mostly to himself and clutched his fist, he tried to remember his own anger and push the dragons influence away... it had a small effect but not as much as the nightingale hoped it would 

Serana had giggled when the breton cut Malkus off but when that almost inhuman growl left his mouth she couldn't help but to look in his deriction, once again his eyes had shifted from blue to yellow... in a way his dragon like eyes were beautiful but they also unnerved her... there was so much anger hidden behind his thin pupils when his eyes were like this 

Malkus's face shifted into one of anger (with some fear mixed into his intense gaze) and without saying any words he simply clapped his hands in the air and began walking away 

The enslaved men and woman turned around from the fire to face the pair, then suddenly a large number of thralls came down from the stair case in the room ahead of them... Fynrir didnt count for long but by the time he was done he counted 25... and more then likely missed a few 

The dragonborn looked at the vampress and pointed to where Malkus had just been "go after him, stop whatever he's doing to the priest and I'll meet you up there as soon as I'm done here"

Serana looked at him, then back to the large group in front of them, then back to him and nodding her head "dont take too long" she grinned having full confidence he could handle this "I'd hate to have to kill all those guys on my own" she also had every confidence that she could handle Malkus and his goons 

She dissapeared, Turning into a swarm of bats that flew her above the small army and to where their enemy had been before she disappeared from Fynrirs sight 

The nightingale wondered why he'd never seen her do that before... he pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked at the thralls in front him him, their eyes were all grey and dead behind the pupil, they were all an assortment of race and gender but none of that mattered to him... all that mattered was that they were in his way 

They started charging him not a second later, he took a few steps forward as the closest thrall derictly in front of him tried to impale him with it's great sword, Fynrir ducked his shoulder down, out of the way and knocked his elbow into the blade making the thrall stumble to the side, he followed through with a punch that broke its skull and sent it flying, he turned around just as another swung its large battle axe at his midsection in a side power swipe, the dragonborn caught the handle of the axe with both hands before punching the dead one derictly in the throat, smashing his windpipe and wiping his head forward with a violent crack

He took the battle axe in hand and side stepped as a female thrall swung a great sword down at him, the breton spun around and slammed the battle axe derictly into her stomach almost cleaving completely through her just as her own blade slammed into the floor

Fynrir dropped the axe and dashed forward grabbing a thralls wrist as it swung its sword at him, he used that blade to deflect another thralls over head battle axe swing before kicking the axe wielder in the stomach, the blow sent him flying backwards 

Fynrir ripped the sword from the mans grip, spun behind him and stabbed his own blade derictly through his back and heart, he could head air whooshing behind him and ducked down dodging a war hammer with ease, the breton popped back up and reached out grabbing the thrall by the face and snapping his neck with an easy quick motion 

One thrall came at him from behind and wrapped his arms around Fynrir trying to hold him, another was coming at him bringing down her great sword with a loud scream that held no real emotion behind it, the nightingale bashed his head back into his captors nose and flexed his arms to the side, easily breaking his grip and dodging to the left, the thrall with the sword didn't have time to stopped her blade from cleaving through the others body

Fynrir grabbed her helmet and snapped her neck as well before shooting his wrist to the right blocking a blade coming straight for his head, his counter move was a hard sternum shattering punch that sent the thrall flying 

The nightingale could hear foot steps coming derictly behind him and he turned around in a quick fluid motion grabbing the wrist of a dagger wielding thrall as it tried to stab Fynrir in the gut and returned the fover by slipping behind him and stabbing it through the chest with it's own blade 

Fynrir ducked under one more axe swing and snapped that thralls neck as well 

The dragon in his head was loving this and was chanting and basically begging for more, Fynrir wasn't loving this by any means and as the fight went in he tried to remember his own anger and kept pushing the dragon's away 

Serana wasn't exactly having an easy time dealing with the vampires, unlike the all out war that was going on below her, her battle was fought with magic, which she thrived in normally 

The vampires she was facing weren't even close to her league and the only that could kind of hold a candle to her was Malkus, and even then the hope of him beating her head to head was laughable 

The only reason she hadn't killed all of them yet was because it wasn't just the three vampires they had seen earlier, when she got up here she was met with a total of 15 vampires

Which wasn't nearly as awful as it could have been, but she was under a constant barrage of attacks and could very rarely send out one of her own before having to deflect another, the few spells she had cast however worked perfectly and killed two of the 15

Every time she blasted lighting she had to raise a ward to keep herself from getting shocked, she wasn't running out of energy though and she probably could have kept this up for the rest of the day if she so wanted to (though she was hungry and this did make her spells a little weaker)

But she grew tired of the constant back and forth, she conjured up a sturdy shield and charged the closest set of vampires, all together they may have been able to keep her locked down with a barrage of magics... but up close none of them even stood a chance 

She dropped the shield when the female vampire derictly in front of her conjured ice into her hand, with a split second chance Serana smacked her hand to the right just as she shot it, the blow redericted her hand at the undead imperial to her right and instead of the ice spike hitting Serana it went derictly through the mans head 

Before the vampire could even react to her mistake, her body filled with the white hot pain of lighting shot into her stomach and frying her from the inside out

Serana dropped to the left and rolled away as the vampire at her right shot his own blast of lightning towards her, it was a high elf man that she'd never seen before but sensed he'd been around for a long time... but not as long as her 

The vampress rolled back up onto her feet and drew her dagger from its sheath, the altmer smirked... honest to dagon smiled as if to say 'what's that little knife gonna do?'

She rushed him again and covered her own attack by shooting ice storm at him, he managed to dodge the brunt of the storm in the nick of time but fell to his knees and was unable to avoid her blade as it slid deep across his neck, if her dagger had gone an inch deeper it would have severed his head completely from his 

Serana turned back towards the group of vampires, her last barrage of attacks had happened so fast that some of them barely even noticed, and the others couldn't get a proper shot 

This time wouldn't be so easy on her, she still wasnt all that tired but her empty belly was slowing her down, and with the remaining ten being so close to each other it would be harder for her to jump into a head on brawl with them, she was confident that even in this hungry state she could take them all down but was also pretty sure she'd probably take her fair amount of damage as well (probably small damage, but damage none the less... and she only cared because she didnt wanna look weak in front of Fynrir)

These weren't thralls... or even lesser vampires, these were all ancient and experienced vampires... with a closer look she recognized them all, obviously she knew Malkus was there from the beginning but she didn't realize that it was also his entire sub court with him 

She felt no fear, none of these night dwellers even compared to a daughter of coldharbor, but all together they would be much more difficult to take down, that fact didnt deter her, Serana was fully prepared for that challenge 

She'd always liked challenges... being a nord and all it was embedded in her genes to enjoy a good fight 

With a smirk on her face the vampress once again summoned a sturdy shield and held it out in front of her as she ran towards the group, she kept her eyes on Malkus as he slowly weaseled into the back ground but stayed close, probably waiting to pick his moments 

Just as Serana was about to engage a black shadow came from her right, it didnt take long for Serana to realize it was the nightingale 

Fynrir had killed the rest of the thralls with as much ease as he'd killed the others, and now he was dead set on killing these vampires, he saw Serana running at them when he'd bounced up the staircase, while he was fully confident that she could kill them on her own it didn't mean that she had to 

He flanked them from the right running derictly at them with a speed that only Serana and maybe Malkus could react to and introduced the closest vampire, a dunmeri woman, to his fist in the side of her head, the blow sent a sickening cracking sound throughout the cave 

The other vampires turned towards him with bared fangs before engaging him, just as them being focused on Serana had left their left flank open to the dragonborn, shifting their attention to Fynrir opened their right to Serana who blasted a tall nord man with a powerful enough lightning spell that he incinerated into nothing but a skeleton 

Serana quickly joined the fray and together they quickly dispersed of several night dwellers, the pair fought well together, as if they'd done it their whole lives and knew all of each others blind spots how to cover them perfectly 

During the fight Fynrir grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the way of an incoming ice spike before spinning her through the air, she met the spell caster with a hard knee to the side of her head that easily took him out, at another point Serana lightly shoulder checked him away from a lighting coming straight at his head 

Their movements were almost synchronized, which was odd for both of them but particularly weird for Fynrir, he'd always been terrible at fighting along side other people... even before he became dragonborn, when he was younger he almost stabbed his own mentor on accident several times and when he, Karliah and Byrnjolf were tracking down Mercer Frey in the dwemer ruin he was so bad at working with them that the other two mumbled several times that they were more worried about him then the falmer, it had been a joke but it had also been kind of true 

But with her this wasnt such an issue, it felt like he knew where she was gonna be and where she wasnt gonna be at the same time, he knew when she needed his help and when she didnt... they had a good chemistry on the battle field and that realization caused a comfortable warmth to bloom in his chest that he hadn't felt in a very long time, the feeling was so warm and appealing that focusing on it made the dragon quiet down significantly 

Serana had fought with other people on many occasions but none of them felt as natural as Fynrir did, even thralls or undead that she was controlling didn't come close to how well their fighting styles melded together, she'd cast a ward to cover them both from a spell then he'd counter with a punch or kick, he'd block a sword blow with his gauntlets (those things were way tougher then they looked) and she'd counter with a shock spell, fighting along side him like this was... almost fun

They worked so well together that exactly 30 seconds into the fight there were only two enemies remaining not counting Malkus (who at this point had only thrown a few spells and mostly tried to stay out of it)

Serana was easily handling the two on her own but still noticed Fynrirs sudden absence from her side and looked back, the breton was just... standing there looking at something with an angry glare 

Her eyes followed his gaze as she easily dodged an ice spike and saw Malkus standing in front of him 20 feet away with that shit eating grin prominent on his face 

He was trying to enthrall Fynrir... 

Serana growled and rushed forward before she ducked down between to two vampires in a fast motion that both struggled to follow, she held her hands out to her sides and blasted both with a powerful spell that she created, it was a mixture of ice spear and thunder bolt, it used to wear her out more especially when she's hungry like this, but she pulled through this time mostly unscathed, she felt an adrenaline rush and all her mind could seem to focus on was stopping the other vampire from enthralling her friend 

The vampress made a quick dash towards Malkus, if she killed him now the process would end... but just as she was about to raise her hand and rip the other vampires heart out 

Malkus screamed, in pure terror he screamed and clutched his own head before falling to the ground and continued screaming his lungs out 

Serana slowly looked over at Fynrir, he was still just standing there but now he had a look in his face that looked like either disappointment or disapproval dericted at their fallen and screaming foe, and then he took a deep calming breath before he looked back up at Serana... and gave her a small smile she hesitated for a second still wondering what had happened to Malkus but she returned the smile, a feeling of relief over came both of them when they realized the fight was over... for them at least


	10. Chapter 10

Malkus found himself somewhere dark... darker then the place he had been in before entering Fynrirs mind, the only form of light was dull grey shine that only seemed to focus on him, the floor below him had changed from the dirty, weathered and tanned stone floor to a clean smooth grey stone that reminded him of castle Volkihars tiles

And he was alone... he hadn't been alone just a second ago but he certainly was now, the dead members of his sub court were no where to be seen, Serena and her little breton road snack were gone as well, it was just Malkus in this open and eerie place

He remembered trying to break into the hooded mans mind but he felt no resistance... it was as if the breton let him in 

The vampire could hear breathing somewhere out in the dark, a deep angry breathing that seemed to dericted at him and came from something larger then any human could be... but yet the noise almost called out to him and beckoned him closer

He found himself walking towards it in a curious nature, he felt that he was in the bretons mind but could not fully tell and maybe if he wasnt alone then maybe he could figure out what had happened or what had gone wrong

As he walked towards it the breathing grew louder, and then suddenly as he got closer the breathing stopped for a split second and then started again behind him far in the distance once again 

The third time this happened Malkus grew afraid... afraid that whatever he was chasing did not actually want to be found...

As the fear bloomed in his chest the vampire turned and went to run the other way... he was stopped by a pair of burning eyes hovering over him... suddenly the breathing was right in front of him pushing his hair back off his face...

The eyes were not the usual glowing orange color of a vampire, but instead they were yellow and the pupils were long black slits instead of round holes

Suddenly another light appeared above the eyes and the fear that had been growing in his chest turned into pure terror and panic...

Standing in front of him was a massive beastly dragon, it's upper half was red and on its belly it was a pale white color, its whole body was littered in scars and it looked almost malnutritioned... but that fact didnt make it looked weaker, it made the beast look much much more horrific 

The dragons pulled its head back and then let out an ear shattering, bone rattling roar of anger and death that sent Malkus flying back 

The next thing Malkus saw was total darkness, but he could hear voices talking over him and it felt like he was back in the real world, yet the feeling of pure terror remained and he couldn't pull himself away from the memories of the beast shouting at him 

-

"He tried to enthrall me" Fynrir said with a shrug after Serana asked what had transpired in his mind space, honestly the breton didnt really know the details himself, just that every time someone ever tried to enter his mind they ended up with the short end of the stick "clearly it didn't work out" he was trying to push the conversation away but he knew what was coming... Serana wouldn't let this up 

"Clearly, but I've never seen that happen to a vampire before, whatever happened in your mind broke his sanity" she pointed at Malkus who was curled up in a ball crying... part of her wanted to just kill him now and put an end to it all but... she wanted the man to suffer just a bit more "did you use some kind of protection spell"

He could lie... he could lie and say that along with learning how to untither wards he also learned how to repel mental attacks... but lying to her didnt feel right anymore, he trusted her and felt that she trusted him, he wasn't gonna bring that trust into question already even though what hes about to tell her is gonna give the vampress a peak into the side of him that wanted to stay hidden 

"It's because I'm dragonborn" she flinched at his words and remembered the conversation they had two days ago and the breakdown before that, she was just about to tell him not to continue but he cut her off "my mind and my soul are more interconnected then other people's, so when someone tries to invade my mind"

"They try to invade your soul" She finished the sentence for him with crossed arms and a thoughtful and concerned look on her face

He nodded his head and took a deep, nerve calming breath "yes, all dragonborn are born with the soul and blood of a dragon... so when you see the soul of a dovahkiin you see their "true selves" as some people used to say, but I like to think you just see the dragon that lives inside of them... since my dragon is... nastier then others, and I'd prefer he not be my true self, that's why Malkus lost his mind my soul probably did something terrible to him" he said crossing his arms and looking away, an expression of discomfort had been growing on his face through the entire explanation and heightened when he talked about his own dovah soul

He wanted to tell her more, he truly did but his counterpart began laughing a loud sadistic laugh in his ear, yet even through that Fynrir felt for the first time that if he did tell her more, if he did vent his problems to her, it might actually help him... he opened his mouth but the words got caught on his tongue and the breton felt that he couldn't, he couldn't tell her more... not while his counterpart was laughing and taunting him so loudly 

There was something about what he had just told her, something stuck out in his words and the way he spoke them, his voice was shaky and uncertain like he didn't know if he actually wanted to tell her these things, he'd been reluctant to tell her things before but this time he almost seemed scared, her brain worked out the kinks and brought Serana a realization that she had been silently yearning for... this was what was bothering him, this was his hidden issue she and Karliah had spoken of, from the beginning it had been obvious to her that something about being dragonborn was his issue... but when he told her about his reservations towards the responsibility of it all, she believed for a moment that, that had been his secret, now she knew it had only been a stretch of the truth, it was still unclear to her what his problem was but for the first time it felt like she had a real glimpse into it...

Serana desperately wanted him to justtell her what it was, to truly let her in on his problem... and to let her help him with it in anyway she could, the same way he was helping her stop her father and whatever scheme he was cooking up

but she did not ask him to explain more, the look on his face deterred her from doing so despite how badly she wanted to know, she would ask him soon though, that much was certain "are you ok?" She lightly grabbed his hand and squeezed it hoping to provide him the comfort he'd provided her before at the scene of the carriage

He looked at her and nodded with a small sad smile "I promise I'll tell you more when I can... it's just a lot to explain, and I've never told anyone, but I feel like if I tell you... it will help me" he admitted with a slight blush, leaning on someone like this was unfamiliar territory but he wanted to explore it, he wanted to open that door with her "it's also gonna bring my sanity into question" he chuckled trying to make the situation a little less serious for his own sake 

Serana blushed as well, he trusted her enough to confide such a secret, he was gonna tell her his problem... something he had not even told Karliah or Brynjolf (who she really wanted to meet) the trust she felt growing between them felt good and sturdy now, there had been trust before but this felt deeper, she smiled and nodded "whenever your ready I'll be listening" she didn't mention the comment about his sanity but it had drawn a small sound of amusement out of her 

He nodded his head and their hands slowly pulled away from each other, Serana pointed at Malkus "do you wanna..."

He shook his head "no... no I've killed enough people today, you have a bone to pick anyway" he flashed her a smile and then walked away towards the bright blue shield and saying over his shoulder "I'm gonna try and see what I can do for our priest"

Serana watched him walk away for a second and then slowly approached her bawling enemy and crouched down at his side 

Suddenly Malkus could here a voice more clearly now, a voice that he could recognize... it wasnt the dragon from his nightmarish journey in Fynrirs Mind yelling at him, it was that wretched witch Serana, her voice pulled him out of the dark just a bit but the fear so still so clear around him that he almost shied away from the light he was being pulled towards, he felt that it may have been a trick... it must have been some kind of trick

"A part of me always felt like I was gonna be the one to kill you, I thought it would have at least been a fight but i guess I was too foolish to remember that your a coward who hides behind his puppets" he could hear her say with spite and disdain in her tone 

Her voice was deadly and he was still so terrified, yet her voice pulled him further and further out of the dark as if it was providing him a tether he could use to get back to the real world... Just as he opened his eyes Serana plunged her hand into his chest with so much ease she might as well have put her hand in juniper jelly, her fingers gripped his cold beating heart and crushed it in his chest 

He made no noise as he died, he hadn't even come back into reality long enough to feel the actual pain of his heart being mushed into paste and killing him almost instantly

The jostling of his body made a small blue stone slip put of his pocket and fall onto the ground next to his limp body 

Serana grabbed the small glowing rock and analyzed for a second, it was some kind of special stone that looked like it was made to be put in something else based on the general design and grooves, the vampres walked towards the blue light and saw Fynrir standing near its source 

A large magicka shield stood between them and the moth priest... she figured the stone in her hand probably had something to do with it given they were the same color and both glowing a similar light 

She had just opened her mouth to speak when Fynrir stepped forward and punched the shield with his right hand, hard... hard enough that the sound of impact echoed across the whole cave system and hurt her ears, the sound that resonated from his punch sounded like someone had dropped a boulder from a mountain and let it slam onto a stone floor, the magicka swirled around the impact zone and even seemed to dispate for just a second before the energies pulled themselves back together, the impact was great enough that a tuft of air came from his blow and blew up all the dust off the ground him, she'd seen him hit hard before but this was different... it had been impressive when he smashed stone into dust, but that didnt really hold a a candle to hitting so hard it misplaced the air around them "yeah... I dont think that's gonna work" she said with a giggle but sounded more then impressed, she knew that if he punched it a few times fast enough the shield would probably collapse but that wasnt necessary 

"I didn't really think so but it was worth a shot" he shrugged and looked at the blue orb in her hand "I take it that's what we need to lower this?" He asked before looking back through the shield and at the priest... the old man hadn't moved since Fynrir had gotten here but his chest looked like it was drawing breath if the breton looked at the right angle 

She nodded her head "yes sir, mister fisticuffs" she spun the stone in her hand a bit and laughed when he scoffed "you know, now that I think about it I've never seen anyone fight the way you do... where did you learn how to move like that?" Watching him fight was always a bit of an anomaly, because on one hand there was almost no actual grace his movement, just raw grit and lip biting ferocity, but yet everything he did had alot technique to it, he turned his hip into every punch, kick, knee or elbow and that seemed to give everything he did more oomph to it

"I'll tell you all about it after we talk to the priest" he said and then playfully put his hand on his chest "nightingales honor"

She rolled her eyes and giggled as she walked up the stairs to a large pedestal that looked promising enough "nightingales are thieves, I thought you guys didnt have honor"

He snorted and shrugged his shoulders even though he knew she couldn't see it "technically your right princess Serana" he called back up to her and smiled when she growled and mumbled something he couldn't hear before he heard some clicking from where she stood 

Whatever she did up there she had done it right, because the blue barrier dissapeared and left only the most priest... with burning red eyes, he stood up and pulled his sword out from its sheath before speaking in voice that didn't belong to his mouth "my master is dead... I must avenge him" the old man spoke before dashing at Fynrir 

The breton jumped back away from him getting put of range, Serana shouted down to him as he easily slipped under a slash "he's enthralled! Dont hurt him!" She jumped down and tried to enter his mind but found a tight barrier put in place, she'd have to work through it to release from his binds... 

Fynrir glanced at her but didnt respond, instead he only narrowed his eyes and let the moth priest charge at him once again... Serana watched with wide eyes as her friend left himself completely open, she rushed into to try and save him but they were too close to each other for her to make it in time even with her vampiric speed, the old man let out an angry cry and raised his blade stabbing it at the nightingale 

In a fast motion Fynrir grabbed the sword in the palm of his left hand and held it out to the side, his glove kept his skin protected from any cuts, he raised his right hand and opened it wide before delivering a palm strike to the priests chest that sent him backwards onto his backside, Serana ran over and joined him as the priest groaned in pain on the ground

The strike wasnt hard and the placement of it kept it from being deadly not to mention it worked... that still didnt stop Serana from swatting the nightingales arm and scolding him "I told you not to hurt him!"

Fynrir shrugged and rubbed where she had hit him, cause it actually did sting a bit (he'd never ever tell her that however) "I didn't, he'll be fine, probably just a bruise" he didn't look at her but could still feel her eyes on his hood 

The old man coughed and turned over to his side before holding out an open hand of surrender, his world was still hazy and he was unsure if the two were gonna continue the attack "i... I'm sorry, that wasnt me you were fighting, I could see through my eyes but I could not control my actions..."

"Wasn't really much of a fight" Fynrir mumbled, the priest didn't catch it but Serana did and had to hold back her laughter as she elbowed him in the stomach, the nightingale came forward, pulling his hood down and grabbing the mans hand before speaking in a calm, friendly voice "I'm sorry about that sir" he said pulling the old man to his feet "for hitting you I mean, i was only trying to break whatever control you were under"

Serana had never heard the breton speak like this before, with her it felt like he was just talking, when he spoke to Karliah it kind of reminded her of a young boy talking to his mother (which was adorable) when he spoke to the guard early that day it was more business like... but here with the moth priest it was almost like he was talking to an old friend 

The priest smiled at Fynrir and nodded letting the younger man pull him to his feet, once he was back to his feet he shook his hand "that's quite alright young man, I'm just glad you got here when you did, I believe these vampires were getting hungry" he let out a short laugh... one that Fynrir joined in on, it was an actual laugh too, not a snort or chuckle, for a second even Serana thought it was real "Dexion Evicus is my name, you've got quite the arm lad"

"I'm Fynrir blood-arrow" he said and then snorted, this time the small laugh had been real, the breton shrugged "I work in a mine when I'm not traveling so I've got a good swing" he lied, but the lie was so good that if she didn't know him Serana would have believed him in a heart beat "they didn't hurt you right Dexion?"

The concern was real but somehow seemed hammed up... her travelling companion had even reached out and put a hand on the old mans shoulder to play it up more

After putting all the little pieces together Serana realized what he was doing, and why he was acting so different... he was trying to charm the priest, not with magic but with kind words and reassuring gestures, it seemed like he was saying all the right things to get the man to trust him and it looked like it was working, "he could charm any man or woman into giving him their whole coin purse" she remembered Karliah saying, charming wasn't a word she associated with Fynrir all that much... yeah he had his own kind of charm but it was the gruff kind that isn't exactly attractive to most people (except her apparently, that thought made her blush a bit) but in this moment, talking to the priest like they were old friends meeting back up, he was probably the most charismatic man in skyrim

The old man was still smiling and clapped Fynrir on the shoulder "I'll be just fine my friend, though I am wondering what these night dwellers were holding me for... probably thought they could ransom me, the fools"

Serana stepped in with a beautiful bright smile on her face "actually we know why they needed you, because we need you for the same reason"

Dexion looked at her now but his smile did not shift and even a simple glance at her brilliant smile was enough to make him trust her, the vampress felt a bit smug that her womanly charm worked just as well Fynrirs honeyed words, the old man looked between them both then spoke "well enough secrets then, out with it friends"

"We have an elder scroll and we need you to read it" Serana explained 

The priests eyes widened a bit and he spoke in an excited tone "an elder scroll? You have one with you?"

Serana nodded her head and turned her body so he could see the large cylinder on her back "we do, my father discovered a prophecy hidden within the scroll that he wants to use against humanity, we need to stop him..."

Dexion finished for her with a more somber expression, studying elder scrolls was his entire life, and it always hurt him to hear of the scrolls holding such horrible secrets "and to stop him I must read the scroll and tell you what this prophecy truly is and hopefully how to stop it?" Serana and Fynrir both nodded their heads, the man continued "then of course I will help you, but I cannot read the scrolls here... Is there somewhere safe you could take me?"

The breton nodded his head at that one "of course, I know the perfect place" Serana looked at him with furrowed eyebrows, he'd been thinking of the best place to send the man since Serana began talking to him "theres undoubtedly more vampires out there looking for you, and there's only one place they'd never look"

Dexion leaned his head to the side, he was expecting the nightingale to send him to a major city or even the college of winterhold... he was very wrong 

"I want you to go to riften, when you get there search for a man named Brynjolf in the market place, tall nord with red hair" he pulled out a small piece of paper with the nightingale symbol on it and handed it to him "give him this and tell him I said to keep you safe at all costs"

Dexion watched him for a moment "alright, are you two gonna come with me?"

Fynrir shook his head "I've gotta get you there fast and without us, if we're all together itll draw more unwanted attention, I'll hire you a carriage and some mercs to keep you safe" he knew that soilders weren't enough last time but the ride would be hastier this time "and this way we can tail behind you incase something does go wrong"

Dexion simply nodded his head, he agreed to their plan without hesitation and Fynrir smiled, even when a dragon is telling him to murder someone... he can still talk his way into anyone's trusting side, the conversation didnt last much longer before they were out of the cave 

They led Dexion back to dragons bridge and hired a carriage to get him there as fast as position and a large group of experienced, rough looking mercenaries to get him there as safe as possible... Fynrir didnt have that much confidence that they could keep him safe if they were attacked, but he also knew that Serana and himself wouldn't be that far behind if something did happen

The road ahead was gonna be long but after a night of rest and food they were both prepared for it, physically at least 

Fynrir knew the journey was gonna be a mental challenge... because he had made a promise he wasn't truly ready to make

He promised to tell her more about his dragon problem, and as much as he did not want to talk about it he would keep that promise, not just for her but for himself 

For the first time he wanted to tell someone, he wanted to tell her, he still had a feeling deep down that talking about it would help him, especially with her, ever since they met she had an odd affect on his dragon side the other important people in his life did 

Everytime he'd tried to talk to Karliah or Brynjolf, or anyone about his predicament the dragons attempted influence got so bad that Fynrirs head would pound with pain and his eyes would tear up... 

The dragon told him to kill them, to kill Karliah who was the only mother figure he'd ever had in his life and had been his best friend since she shot him with a poison arrow, To kill Brynjolf who was like the big brother Fynrir had always wanted growing up 

Fynrir knows that he would never hurt them, and he'd rather die then let anyone else hurt them but the fact that something in his own head wanted him to hurt people so dear to him so badly, caused the nightingale a pain so great that he always pushed the subject away... and by proxy he unknowingly pushed them away 

Karliah still loves him, Brynjolf would never be upset with him and everyone in the guild would always welcome him back with open arms, but he still feels a distance between them he's too scared to cross

Because what if one day he did lose control? What if his dragon like instincts really did take over?

He had to go away, being alone and doing good things for good people was the only way his counterpart would quiet down, but then every time he went around someone he knew and liked the dragon would only grow louder and louder, and the more people he interacted with, the more rowdy his counterpart grew and eventually Fynrir did what he thought was best and completely retired into the woods

But now here, in present day with Serana, the dragon was almost constantly silent, unless they were in a fight or another high stress situation then his counterpart was as loud as it could ever be, demanding that Fynrir kill or hurt or maim... even if it was only a few bandits that certainly didn't deserve that 

But in quiet moments, when it was just him and her walking and talking about the beautiful scenery skyrim had to offer, or how different high rock had been (though he basically refused to talk about high rocks politics) or how many books castle volkihar had and how many time she read each of them, or basically anything... the beast was mute even when they would talk about dragons he was more quiet then usual (unless it was something that derictly related to him) which had never happened 

But for some reason, for a reason unknown to him and his counter part alike (if his most recent hallucination was anything to go by) that didnt happen with Serana 

Just being around her calmed him down

The more he thought about this, the more he wanted to tell her everything, to tell her about the dragon in his head trying to influence him and all the pain and loneliness that came with it 

He wants to tell her... so he would tell her, after all she was the perfect person to tell 

The pair hadn't been on the road too long compared to how long it was actually gonna take them to get back to riften and there was plenty of time left for him to spill his heart out to her, he stepped a little closer and opened his mouth 

His heart beat picked up suddenly, the words got jumbled in his throat... and the world began to turn dark and grey around him... it was shifting before his very eyes, shifting between the real world and his mental plane that he'd spent many nightmares and terrifying hallucinations in... the dragon was trying to pull him into a another vision...

Fynrir shook his head trying to clear his mind but it didnt help, he looked at her now, he had fallen behind and she was a little ahead of him but still so close he could reach out and touch her if he wanted to... and dear mara he wanted to right now, so he did 

Fynrir slowly reached out and grabbed her hand in a soft grip, as soon as their skin made contact the shifting of worlds stopped and his heart beat lowered, just the touch of her skin filled his body with a new strength that completely repelled his counterpart, she looked back at him with a slight blush but didnt pull her hand away, instead she gripped his in a tender manner and smiled at him, the nightingale smiled back with a small blush of his own and spoke "I promised I would tell you something earlier, and I'm not really known to break my promises so... are you ready to hear it?

The vampress squeezed his hand soflty and smiled "of course I am Fynrir" her body filled with a mixed feeling of nervousness and excitement... he was fianlly gonna tell her his problem, she had begun to think he wasnt actually gonna tell her, hours had gone by since they were back on the road and he hadn't mentioned it at all up to this point 

"Well to really get the point across, I have to take you pretty far back" He chuckled a bit and slowly shifted his hand so their fingers were intertwined "like I said earlier, it's gonna bring my sanity into question" his cheeks felt a little hot and the peacefulness that surrounded them was welcomed 

Serana looked down at their tangled hands and felt her smile widen and a heat rise to her cheeks, she simply shrugged her shoulders and looked back up to meet his eyes "my father literally wants to block out the sun, I'm pretty sure I can take whatever you can throw at me"

Not long after he opened his mouth she realized she was wrong, almost wrong at least

**Author's Note:**

> Like I stated this chapter is mostly just exposition explaining a few things before hand without diving too much into detail or real character growth, witch I honestly hate but felt was completely necessary for this story


End file.
